NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 24, 2026: The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the proposal for the alteration of the name of the State of ‘Kerala’ as ‘Keralam’.
After approval of the Union Cabinet, the President of India will refer a Bill, namely the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, to the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala for expressing its views under the proviso to Article 3 of the Constitution of India. After receipt of the views of the State Legislative Assembly of Kerala, the Government of India will take further action, and the recommendation ofthe President will be obtained for the introduction of the Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026, for the alteration of the name of State of ‘Kerala’ as ‘Keralam’ in Parliament.
Legislative Assembly of Kerala passed a resolution on 24.06.2024 to alter the name of the State of “Kerala” to “Keralam”, which is as under:
“The name of our State is ‘Keralam’ in the Malayalam Language. States were formed based on language on the 1st day of November, 1956. The Kerala Piravi Day is also on the 1st day of November. Since the time of the National Independence Struggle, there has been a strong demand for the formation of United Kerala for the people speaking Malayalam language. 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, the Government of Kerala has requested the Government of India to take necessary steps to amend the First Schedule to the Constitution by altering the name of the State of Kerala to ‘Keralam’ as per Article 3 of the Constitution.
Article 3 of the Constitution provides for the alteration of the 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 of State of ‘Kerala’ as ‘Keralam’ was considered in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and with the approval of Amit Shah, Union Minister of Home Affairs, the draft Note for the Cabinet for the alteration of name of State of ‘Kerala’ as ‘Keralam’ was circulated to the Department of Legal Affairs and Legislative Department, 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 ofthe name of the State of ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralam’.
