Amit Shah is scheduled to present two bills in the Lok Sabha: one to rename Kerala as Keralam and another to enhance NCDC’s financing powers.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to introduce two bills — one seeking to rename Kerala as Keralam and another expanding the financing powers of the National Co-operative Development Corporation (NCDC) — in the Lok Sabha on Monday, amid a logjam in both Houses of Parliament. With just four days left in the ongoing monsoon session, the Opposition parties are seeking a statement from the home minister over the use of force against protesting students on July 20.
The Kerala (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2026 seeks to amend the First Schedule of the Constitution to change the name of Kerala to “Keralam”. The proposal follows a resolution passed by the Kerala assembly seeking the change. The Union Cabinet has already approved the proposal.
NCDC bill proposes wider funding powers
The second bill, the National Co-operative Development Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, seeks to expand the mandate of the NCDC. Instead of largely financing programmes through cooperative societies, according to the draft bill, the corporation will also be able to fund a wider range of organisations involved in “co-operative development”.
The proposed changes come as the government argues that the cooperative sector has “expanded and diversified considerably” over the years. According to the statement of objects and reasons accompanying the bill, statutory bodies, state government agencies and other specialised organisations now provide infrastructure, technology, processing, marketing and financial services to cooperatives. As many of these organisations are not themselves registered as cooperative societies, the NCDC cannot finance them directly under the existing law, resulting in “procedural delays and limited uptake” as proposals have to be routed through state governments or cooperative societies.
