- The Kerala Assembly, in a unanimous decision, passed a resolution proposing a Constitutional amendment to change the name of the State to ‘Keralam’ (similar attempts were made in 2010 also).
- The resolution, moved by the Chief Minister, called for invoking Article 3 of the Constitution to effectuate this change in the First Schedule.
- This resolution mirrors an attempt from last year, which was sent back by the Centre due to procedural issues.
Article 3
Article 3 spells out the modes/ways of formation of States in the country. The modes so spelt out are
- by separation of territory from any State (ii) by uniting two or more States or parts of States or
- by uniting any territory to a part of any State.
- And all the aspects that are included in the process are as follows:
(a) increase in the area of any State or
(b) reduction in the area of any State or
(c) alteration in the boundary or
(d) name of any State.
- The renaming of a state requires Parliamentary approval under Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution, and the President has to refer the same to the relevant state legislature for its views.
- Parliament can change the name of a state by law. A Bill for this can only be introduced in Parliament with the President’s prior recommendation, which is given after obtaining the State Legislature’s views.
- The State Legislature’s views are not binding on the President.
- Parliament can amend the Bill after referring it to the State Legislature for their views, without needing to refer the amendment back to the State Legislature.
- Article 4 states that laws made by Parliament under Articles 2 and 3, affecting the First or Fourth Schedule and related matters, are not considered constitutional amendments under Article 368.
Dig Deeper: Read about procedure to change the name of the Official language of the state
