New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Kerala government’s proposal to rename the state as ‘Keralam’, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held at Seva Teerth, the new PMO complex.

Vaishnaw said the Cabinet had approved the proposal to alter the name of the state from Kerala to ‘Keralam’. Following the Cabinet’s nod, the President of India will refer the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for its views under the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution.

After receiving the Assembly’s opinion, the Centre will seek the President’s recommendation to introduce the Bill in Parliament to formally change the state’s name to ‘Keralam’, according to an official release.

The Kerala Legislative Assembly had passed a unanimous resolution on June 24, 2024 seeking the name change. “The name of our state is ‘Keralam’ in the Malayalam language. States were formed on the basis of language on November 1, 1956, and Kerala Piravi is also observed on November 1,” the resolution noted.

It added that there had been a long-standing demand since the national independence movement for a unified state for Malayalam-speaking people. However, in the First Schedule to the Constitution, the state’s name is recorded as ‘Kerala’. The Assembly therefore urged the Centre to take urgent steps under Article 3 to modify the name to ‘Keralam’.

Subsequently, the Kerala government formally requested the Centre to amend the First Schedule to the Constitution to reflect the new name.

Under Article 3, Parliament has the power to alter the name of any state. The provision also requires that any such Bill be introduced only on the President’s recommendation and after the concerned state legislature has been given an opportunity to express its views.

The proposal was examined by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and, with the approval of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the draft Cabinet note was circulated to the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Both the Department of Legal Affairs and the Legislative Department concurred with the proposal to change the name from ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralam’.