RAS question
Under which Article of the Indian Constitution does Parliament alter the name of a state, as invoked in the Kerala-to-Keralam renaming?
Correct answer: (C) Article 3.
Parliament alters the name of a state under Article 3 of the Indian Constitution, the provision invoked for the Kerala-to-Keralam renaming.
Explanation
Article 3 is the operative provision because it expressly covers the formation of new states and the alteration of the areas, boundaries or names of existing states. Its text authorises Parliament by law to alter the name of any state. The same provision also builds in a federal consultation step: where the proposal affects a state's area, boundaries or name, the Bill must be referred by the President to that State Legislature for its views, and the specified period for those views must expire. That is why a Kerala-to-Keralam renaming proposal is framed under Article 3 rather than under a general description of India or a consequential-amendment clause.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Article 1 names India, that is Bharat, as a Union of States and describes the territory of India; it does not confer the specific law-making power to alter a state's name.
- (B) Article 2 deals with Parliament admitting or establishing new states, not changing the name of an existing state such as Kerala.
- (D) Article 4 deals with amendments to the First and Fourth Schedules and consequential matters for laws made under Articles 2 and 3; it is not the standalone source of the power to rename a state.
Concept
This tests Part I of the Constitution, especially Parliament's power over state territory and nomenclature. RAS repeats it because state reorganisation and renaming questions link constitutional text with current governance developments.