Union Cabinet Approves Renaming Kerala to Keralam

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved on Tuesday a proposal from the Kerala government to change the name of the southern Indian state from Kerala to Keralam. The decision was made during the cabinet's first meeting at Seva Teerth, the newly inaugurated Prime Minister's Office complex in New Delhi.

The approval follows a unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly on June 24, 2024, urging the central government to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution under Article 3 to reflect the state's name as Keralam. This marked the second such resolution from the assembly; an earlier one in August 2023 had been returned by the Ministry of Home Affairs with suggestions for technical modifications.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who moved the June resolution, emphasized the cultural and linguistic significance of the change. "The name of our state is Keralam in the Malayalam language," the resolution stated. It highlighted that states were formed on a linguistic basis on November 1, 1956, coinciding with Kerala Piravi Day, and noted a longstanding demand for a united Kerala for Malayalam-speaking people dating back to the...