The Union Cabinet approves renaming Kerala to Keralam, reflecting the state’s cultural identity and language heritage.
The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to rename Kerala as Keralam.
According to a statement, after approval of Union Cabinet, the President will refer the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to the State Assembly for sharing its views under proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution. After receipt of the views, the government will take further action and the recommendation of President will be obtained for introduction of the bill for alteration of the name of the State in Parliament.
The Kerala Assembly passed a resolution to alter the name on 24 June 2024. The resolution said: “The name of our State is ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam language. States were formed on the basis of language on November 1, 1956. The Kerala Piravi Day is also on November 1. Since the time of national independence struggle, there has been a strong demand for the formation of United Kerala for the people speaking Malayalam . But in the First Schedule to the Constitution, the name of our State is recorded as ‘Kerala’. This Assembly unanimously appeal to the Central government to take urgent steps as per Article 3 of the Constitution for modifying the name as ‘Keralam’.”
Thereafter, Kerala government requested the Central government to take necessary steps to amend the First Schedule to the Constitution by altering the name ’ as per Article 3 of the Constitution.
Article 3 of the Constitution provides for alteration of names of existing States. According to Article 3, Parliament may, by law, alter the name of any State. Further proviso to Article 3 states that no bill for the purpose shall be introduced in either House of Parliament except on the recommendation of the President and unless, where the proposal contained in the bill affects the area, boundaries or name of any of the States, the Bill has been referred by the President to the Legislature of that State for expressing its views thereon within such period as may be specified in the reference or within such further period as the President may allow and the period so specified or allowed has expired.
The matter regarding alteration of name was considered in the Ministry of Home Affairs, and with the approval of Minister Amit Shah, the draft note for the Cabinet for the name change was circulated to the Department of Legal Affairs and Legislative Department and Ministry of Law and Justice for their comments.
The Department of Legal Affairs and Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice have concurred with the proposal for the alteration of name.
Published on February 24, 2026
