On Monday, the Kerala State Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Central government to officially change the State’s name to Keralam, as used in Malayalam.
The resolution highlights that the call for a unified State for Malayalam speakers has been strongly asserted since the Indian freedom struggle.
However, the state’s name in the First Schedule of the Constitution of India is listed as Kerala, not Keralam.
The resolution calls for urgent action from the Central government under Article 3 of the Constitution to amend the First Schedule and change the name to Keralam.
It also seeks to change the name of the State to Keralam in all languages mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
This is the second time the assembly has passed such a resolution. The first resolution was sent back by the Central government, which suggested certain technical changes.
On June 24, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan moved the present resolution, which was unanimously passed by the assembly.
