Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026

• The Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 was introduced by the Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in Lok Sabha.
• The Bill seeks to change the name of the state of Kerala to “Keralam” in the First Schedule of the Constitution. 
• A resolution in this regard was passed by Kerala Legislative Assembly in June 2024.
• Then, the Kerala government had forwarded to the Centre a resolution passed by the state's legislative assembly regarding the name change.
• Subsequently, the President of India referred a bill to the state legislature for expressing its views.
• The Kerala Legislative Assembly unanimously endorsed the President’s reference on the proposal.
• The legislators unanimously endorsed all queries raised by the President on the Bill’s 10 clauses, including approval of its title and its provisions.
• This was the first time a Presidential reference has been sent to the Kerala Legislative Assembly for its opinion.
• Noting that the First Schedule of the Constitution recorded the State’s name as ‘Kerala,’ the Assembly had urged the Union government to adopt steps under Article 3 of the Constitution to officially rename the State as ‘Keralam.’
• Once the present bill is passed by Parliament and notified, the State’s official name will be changed from Kerala to Keralam.
• Amendments will be made in the First Schedule to the Constitution by modifying the name of state of 'Kerala' as 'Keralam' in accordance with article 3 of the Constitution.

Article 3 of the Constitution

• According to Article 3 of the Indian Constitution, Parliament may, by law, alter the name of any State.
• The article also states that no Bill for the purpose shall be introduced in either House of Parliament except on the recommendation of the President.
• And unless where the proposal contained in the bill affects the area, boundaries or name of any of the States, the Bill has been referred by the president to the legislature of that State for expressing its views thereon within such period as may be specified in the reference or within such further period as the president may allow and the period so specified or allowed has expired.
• This, in simpler terms, means that the State Assembly first passes a resolution for the change of the name and sends it to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• It is then sent for the recommendation of the President to Parliament.
• Such a Bill can only be introduced in Parliament after the President recommends it.
• The next step is to send the Bill to the affected state’s legislature to get their views within a set time.
• A crucial point to note is that the State’s opinion is not binding. Parliament can move forward even if the State disagrees.
• The Bill is then introduced in either the Lok Sabha (Lower House) or Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and must be passed by a simple majority, i.e. more than 50% of the members must be present and voting in any of the houses.
• Once passed by Parliament, the Bill goes back to the President for final signature.
• Once signed, it becomes an Act, and the name is officially changed in the First and Fourth Schedules of the Constitution.
• The process of changing the name of the country is significantly more complex than changing the name of a State.
• As Article 3 deals exclusively with changing the name of States, changing India’s name would require a formal Constitutional Amendment under Article 368.
• Article 1 of the Constitution, which defines the country as “India that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States…,” would also need to be amended.
• In order to exclusively use just one name for the country, the amendment Bill must be passed by two-thirds of members present and voting in both houses of the Parliament.
• It also requires the support of more than 50% of the total strength of each House.
• The Supreme Court of India has twice (in 2016 and 2020) rejected pleas to rename India to Bharat.
• It was stating that both names are already official and the Constitution refers to both ‘Bharat’ and ‘India,’ signalling that they may be used interchangeably.