• The Kerala Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Centre to officially change the state’s name to ‘Keralam’. 

• It was the second time that the state Assembly passed a resolution demanding a change in the name of the state. 

• The House had passed a similar unanimous resolution in August 2023 and submitted it to the Centre. However, the Union home ministry suggested some technical changes in it. 

• Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who moved the resolution on June 24, wanted the Union government to change the state’s name from ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralam’ in all languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of the country. 

• Moving the resolution, the CM said the state was called ‘Keralam’ in Malayalam and that the demand to form a united Kerala for the Malayalam-speaking communities had strongly emerged since the time of the national freedom struggle. 

• But the name of the state is written as Kerala in the First Schedule of the Constitution. 

• The resolution requested the Centre to take immediate steps to amend it as ‘Keralam’ under Article 3 of the Constitution and have it renamed as ‘Keralam’ in all the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

• The resolution was accepted by both the members of the ruling LDF and the opposition Congress-led UDF.

Article 3

• Article 3 of the Constitution deals with the formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing states.

It states that: 

Parliament may by law—

(a) form a new State by separation of territory from any State or by uniting two or more States or parts of States or by uniting any territory to a part of any State;

(b) increase the area of any State;

(c) diminish the area of any State;

(d) alter the boundaries of any State;

(e) alter the name of any State:

• However, a Bill to this effect can only be introduced in the Parliament on prior recommendation of the President. The President can only make such a recommendation after obtaining the views of the state legislature on the proposals in the Bill. 

Names of states changed in the past

• In 2006, Centre approved changing Uttaranchal’s name to Uttarakhand.

• In 2011, Orissa’s name was changed to Odisha and the language became Odia from Oriya.

• In 1950, United Provinces was renamed as Uttar Pradesh. On January 24, 1950, the governor-general of India passed United Provinces (Alteration of Name) Order 1950, renaming United Provinces as Uttar Pradesh. 

Request for renaming rejected by the Centre

• In July 2018, the West Bengal Assembly passed a resolution to change the name of the state to ‘Bangla’ in the three most-spoken languages — Bengali, Hindi and English — and had sent the proposal to the ministry of home affairs.

• It suggested ‘Paschimbanga’ in 2011, but it was turned down by the central government.

• In 2016, it proposed ‘Bengal’ in English, ‘Bangla’ in Bengali and ‘Bangal’ in Hindi, which was also turned down.

• When the earlier proposals were received, there was an objection from the central government that suggested the name ‘Bangla’ had similarity to Bangladesh and it would be difficult to differentiate the two at international forums.

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