Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 30 Kerala’s Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the Governor, is set to be officially renamed Lok Bhavan on December 1, marking a major symbolic shift in the state’s administrative nomenclature.
Governor Rajendra Arlekar, who is currently in his home state of Goa, is expected to issue the formal notification on Monday. Once issued, the official address will henceforth read Lok Bhavan, Kerala. The renaming follows the Union government’s broader move to discard colonial-era terms from the country’s administrative vocabulary.
On November 25, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued a directive asking all Raj Bhavans across India to adopt the new title ‘Lok Bhavan’, and all Raj Niwas -- the residences of Lieutenant Governors -- to be renamed ‘Lok Niwas’.
Governor Arlekar had originally proposed the idea during the Governors’ Conference in 2024, arguing that the redesignation would help bring the Governor’s establishment closer to the people. He emphasised that the change would symbolise accessibility, transparency, and democratic participation -- values he said must be reflected in constitutional offices.
With Kerala set to implement the change on December 1, the state joins others that have already notified the transition.
Assam Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya issued the order on Friday, becoming one of the first to formalise the shift. West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose followed suit on Saturday, completing the renaming process in his state as well.
The Union government maintains that the move is part of a national effort to reinforce the idea of “Viksit Bharat”, in which administrative institutions are expected to be more people-centric. According to the MHA notification, renaming the Raj Bhavans and Raj Niwas is intended to “underscore the participatory nature of democracy” and to ensure that constitutional spaces become more publicly accessible, both symbolically and functionally.
In Kerala, the transition is also expected to include changes to signage, official stationery, government communication, and digital platforms associated with the Governor’s office. While the administrative procedures are underway, officials indicated that the public unveiling and formal use of the new name would begin immediately after the Governor’s notification is issued.
The change marks the end of nearly seven decades of the term Raj Bhavan in Kerala, replacing it with a name that the Centre hopes will resonate with modern democratic values -- Lok Bhavan, the People’s House.
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