The Kerala Assembly on 9th August passed a resolution urging the Centre to rename the state as “Keralam” in the Constitution and all office records.
About the resolution
- The resolution, moved by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, was passed unanimously, with the Congress-led Opposition not suggesting any changes.
- As per the resolution, the name of the state in Malayalam is Keralam. States were formed on the basis of language on November 1, 1956. That day is also observed as Kerala formation day.
- The Assembly unanimously requested the Union Government to take immediate steps under Article 3 of the Constitution to change the name of the state to Keralam.
- There are several theories about the origin of the name ‘Kerala’. The earliest epigraphic record that mentions Kerala is emperor Asoka’s Rock Edict II of 257 BC.
- The inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra (Sanskrit for “son of Kerala”), and also “son of Chera” referring to the Chera dynasty. About ‘Keralam’, scholars believe it could have originated from ‘Cheram’.
- The merger and integration of princely states was a major step towards the formation of the state of Kerala after Independence.
- On 1 July, 1949, the two states of Travancore and Kochi were integrated, heralding the birth of the Travancore-Cochin State.
Name changing procedure
- Unlike in the case of renaming cities, to change the name of a state, approval from the Centre’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is required.
- This means that a Constitutional amendment becomes necessary to affect this change. The proposal has to first come from the state government.
- The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) then takes over and gives its consent after it receives No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from several agencies such as the Ministry of Railways, Intelligence Bureau, Department of Posts, Survey of India and Registrar General of India.
- If the proposal is accepted, the resolution, introduced as a Bill in the Parliament, becomes a law and the name of the state is changed thereafter.
