REGULATORY · INDIA
India: Centre approves Kerala’s renaming to ‘Keralam’ as West Bengal alleges bias over ‘Bangla’ proposal
Change
India’s Union Cabinet approved Kerala’s renaming as ‘Keralam’, prompting West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee to allege bias after the Centre did not clear West Bengal’s repeated proposal to rename the State as ‘Bangla’.
Why it matters
The Union Cabinet’s clearance of ‘Keralam’ is a binding central approval step for a state-name change, triggering downstream updates across official records and communications once implemented. West Bengal’s leadership publicly framed the non-approval of ‘Bangla’ as differential treatment, raising the salience of the Centre’s criteria and process for similar requests. The immediate constraint shift is asymmetry: Kerala can proceed through implementation steps tied to the approved name, while West Bengal remains blocked absent central clearance. This can affect intergovernmental coordination, documentation, and branding where official nomenclature is required.
Implications
- • Kerala’s official nomenclature can move to ‘Keralam’ across central/state records.
- • West Bengal’s ‘Bangla’ renaming remains constrained without Cabinet clearance.
- • State-name change approvals become a live political/process benchmark for others.
- • Administrative systems may face update workload tied to the approved name change.
Who is affected
- • Kerala state government departments and agencies
- • Union government ministries maintaining official registries and documents
- • West Bengal state government (name-change proposal stakeholders)
- • Public-sector entities using official state names (IDs, forms, signage)
Source
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