Kerala Assembly again passes a resolution to rename state as Keralam

The Kerala legislative assembly has unanimously passed a resolution on 24 June 2024 to rename the state to Keralam. The resolution, moved by Kerala’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, requested the government of India change the state's name in the constitution.

A similar resolution was passed by the Kerala Legislative Assembly in August 2023.

Reason for Change in the Name to Keralam

While moving the resolution, the Chief Minister said, “The name of Kerala in the Malayalam language is Keralam.  He said that during the freedom struggle, the Malyali-speaking people demanded a united Kerala state for all Malyali-speaking people of the region. After independence, states in India were reorganised based on language, and the new states came into existence on 1 November 1956. Kerala was also formed on 1 November 1956. However, the state was named Kerala instead of Keralam in the first schedule of the constitution. 

The resolution requested the central government to change the state's name to Keralam in the first and fourth schedules. 

The first schedule of the constitution mentions the name of the state and the Union Territories.

The fourth schedule of the constitution mentions the seats allocated to the states and the Union Territory, which have a legislative assembly in the Rajya Sabha or the Council of States of the Parliament.

Formation of Kerala State 

The modern state of Kerala came into existence on 1 November 1956, when the State Reorganisation Act 1956 was enacted, and 14 new States and 6 Union Territories were created in the country.

The Malayalam-speaking area of Malabar district of Madras State and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara district was merged with the Travancore-Cochin State.

Similarly, the Tamil-speaking areas of Southern Travancore-Cochin were merged with Madras State.

How the Name of a State is Changed in India  

Under the Indian constitution, the name of the state can be changed by the parliament through an ordinary law-making process, and there is no need to amend the constitution.

• Article 3 of the constitution mentions the process to be adopted by the parliament for changing a state's name, changing its boundary, and abolition or creation of a new state.
• The Constitution gives Parliament the sole power to change the name and create or abolish a new state.
• A bill that seeks to change the name of a state will be an ordinary bill, and it can be introduced either in Lok Sabha or in the Rajya Sabha of the Parliament.
• The bill can be introduced in either house of Parliament only on the President's prior recommendation. 
• However, before the bill is introduced in either house of Parliament, the President has to refer it to the concerned state legislature for its opinion.
• The state legislature has to express its opinion within the time stipulated by the President. 
• The state legislature can either accept, reject or take no action on the Presidential reference.
• The President is not bound to accept the opinion of the state legislature.
• After the President receives the opinion of the concerned state legislature or if the legislature does not take any action, the bill will be introduced in the parliament after the stipulated time period.
• As it is an ordinary bill, it has to be passed by both houses of parliament with a simple majority.
• After the Parliament passes the bill and the  President signs the bill, it becomes an act.
• The name of the state will be changed on the date specified by the President.

State’s name changed after the implementation of the constitution.

Madhya Bharat to Madhya Pradesh on 1 November 1956.

Madhya Bharat was created by merging 25 princely states on May 28, 1948. It was renamed Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 1956. 

Madras State to Tamil Nadu in 1969

On 26 January 1950, the Madras Province was named as Madras State. On 14 January 1969, Madras State was renamed as Tamil Nadu.

Uttaranchal to Uttarakhand

The state of Uttaranchal was created on 9 December 2000 and changed its name to Uttarakhand on 1 January 2007.

Orissa to Odisha 

On 1 November 2011, the name of Orissa was changed to Odisha. The 96th Constitutional Amendment Act 2011 amended the eighth schedule of the constitution and changed the name of the Oriya language to Odia.