Kerala Govt unanimously passes resolution in Assembly to rename state as 'Keralam'

synopsis

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday (Aug 9) presented the resolution in the Assembly to rename the state as 'Keralam'. The government demanded that the state be renamed as 'Keralam' in the Constitution and all the official records. The Congress-led UDF opposition accepted the resolution and made no changes or amendment suggestions. 

The Chief Minister said in the Assembly that the Central Government should speed up the steps for this as per the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. As the resolution is passed unanimously, the state will request the Centre to change 'Kerala' to 'Keralam'. If the request of the state is accepted, the name of the state in English and Malayalam will be written as 'Keralam.'

When introducing the resolution, the CM noted that although the state is known as "Keralam" in Malayalam, it is still known as Kerala in other languages. He claimed that the Malayalam-speaking communities' yearning for a united Kerala had grown significantly since the start of the national freedom struggle.

The Chief Minister said, " A resolution under Rule 118 is being moved in this House requesting the Central Government to change the official name of our state to 'Keralam' in all languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India."

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

"This Assembly unanimously requests the Union Government to take immediate steps to amend it as 'Keralam' under Article 3 of the Constitution and it be renamed as 'Keralam' in all the languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution," he said. 

The state of Kerala was formed on November 1, 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar and Travancore with Thiruvananthapuram as the capital.