In a significant move, both the Treasury and Opposition benches of the Kerala assembly joined forces on Monday to unanimously approve a resolution proposing to change the state's name to 'Keralam'. The resolution, initiated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, will now be forwarded to the Centre for necessary approvals.
Last year, a similar resolution had also garnered unanimous support in August but faced procedural hurdles that prevented its progression. Consequently, the assembly revisited the issue and passed a fresh resolution to address the technicalities.
The earlier resolution, as reported by IANS, had requested immediate steps under Article 3 of the Constitution to amend the state's name. However, due to a technical objection, it could not proceed further. The newly passed resolution aims to rectify these concerns.
According to details from the New Indian Express, the previous resolution urged the Centre to officially rename the state to 'Keralam' in accordance with the First Schedule of the Constitution, which lists states, and to adopt this name across all languages listed in the Eighth Schedule as official languages.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan highlighted that 'Keralam' is the widely used name in Malayalam, contrasting with the current official designation 'Kerala'.
The resolution underscores Kerala's aspiration to align its official name more closely with its cultural and linguistic heritage, reflecting the unanimous sentiment across the state's political spectrum.
