The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal by the Kerala government to rename the state as ‘Keralam’. The decision was announced by Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and involves amending the First Schedule of the Constitution of India to reflect the state’s name as spoken in Malayalam.
The demand for the change has roots in the independence movement, when there was a “strong demand for the formation of United Kerala for the people speaking the Malayalam language". Although states were reorganised on a linguistic basis on November 1, 1956, the First Schedule recorded the name as ‘Kerala’ instead of the Malayalam ‘Keralam’.
The Kerala legislative assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on June 24, 2024, urging the Centre to take steps under Article 3 of the Constitution to modify the name.
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States renamed since Independence
Since India gained independence in 1947, several states have changed their names to better reflect their cultural heritage and linguistic identity.
Uttar Pradesh was known as the United Provinces before being renamed in 1950 to adopt a traditional Indian name.
Tamil Nadu was earlier called Madras State and was renamed in 1969 to reflect the linguistic identity of Tamil speakers.
Karnataka, originally Mysore State, was renamed in 1973 to include all Kannada-speaking regions within its boundaries.
Uttarakhand was earlier known as Uttaranchal and was renamed in 2007 based on the long-standing preference of its residents.
Odisha changed its name from Orissa in 2011 to align with the correct phonetic spelling in the Odia language.
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Several Union Territories have also undergone name changes. Lakshadweep was earlier known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands before being renamed in 1973. Puducherry was renamed from its colonial-era name Pondicherry in 2006. In 1992, the Union Territory of Delhi was officially redefined as the National Capital Territory of Delhi through the 69th Amendment Act.
Are there any pending proposals?
Meanwhile, the West Bengal assembly has repeatedly passed resolutions seeking to rename the state as “Bangla". However, the Union government has expressed concerns over its phonetic similarity to Bangladesh in international contexts, and the proposal remains under discussion.
