Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is reviving its push to put Malayalam language at the centre of administration, education and technology in the state by formulating a fresh law for the same that was earlier held up this year for lack of presidential assent.
The state’s Left Democratic Front (LDF) government Monday tabled the Malayalam Language Bill, 2025, in the assembly that declares Malayalam as the official language in the southern state and seeks to ensure its usage for official purposes, as well as promotion and protection of the language. The bill also seeks to form a commission for the same.
The proposed law was introduced by industries minister P. Rajeev and a day later, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan submitted a subject committee report on it.
The bill was, however, not discussed in the assembly on both Monday and Tuesday as the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) continued its protests against alleged discrepancies in the weight of gold at the Sabarimala temple.
The fresh language bill comes nearly a decade after the Kerala government had initiated a similar law. In 2015, the Kerala Assembly had passed the Malayalam Language (Dissemination and Enrichment) Bill, aiming to adopt Malayalam for all official usage. However, the proposed law led to concerns about the rights of linguistic minorities in the state.
According to the state government, the bill was returned by the President without citing any reason in May this year. In July, general education minister V. Sivankutty announced that the state would reintroduce the bill.
On Monday, introducing the bill on behalf of CM Vijayan, minister Rajeev said it held great significance as there has been a long-standing demand to change administrative languages to Malayalam. He stated that the new bill rectified all shortcomings in the earlier one.
“The bill has been introduced to safeguard all constitutional rights of linguistic minorities. We have addressed the shortcomings while exercising the state’s legislative powers, also recognising the importance of the mother tongue in administration. It’s a historic moment for Kerala,” Rajeev said.
The proposed law mandates the use of Malayalam in bills introduced in the assembly, ordinances issued by the Governor, government orders, and regulations, while providing English translations along with the original text. Additionally, Malayalam translations must be provided for provisions of Acts published in English.
The bill makes the use of Malayalam mandatory in official communications in all Kerala government departments, except for correspondence with the central government, other countries, and the Supreme Court.
The bill states that Malayalam should be used alongside English on name boards of government, semi-government, autonomous, cooperative and public sector institutions, as well as in commercial, industrial, and business establishments, hospitals, hotels, laboratories, etc.
For boards installed under the supervision of government departments and local self-government institutions, Malayalam should be the primary language, with English used only if necessary.
It mandates the teaching of Malayalam in all government-aided schools from Classes 1 to 10, and requires schools to provide opportunities for students to learn Malayalam if their mother tongue is different.
However, the bill states that official communications to regions with linguistic minorities should be in the language of that region, and students whose mother tongue is not Malayalam have the right to receive education in their preferred language. Students from other states or countries attending schools in Kerala are exempt from attending Malayalam exams in Classes 9, 10, and higher secondary education.
The bill declares Malayalam as the primary language for e-governance platforms and mandates that information on all government websites be provided in Malayalam along with English.
It also promotes the development of independent software to ensure Malayalam in technology, supports the development of a uniform Malayalam script for applications, while also promoting incentives for individuals for creating platforms for effective integration of the language in IT.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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