Kerala Raj Bhavan rechristened Lok Bhavan

The Kerala Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the Governor, is officially rechristened Lok Bhavan (People’s House) on Monday . The change follows instructions from the Union Home Ministry.

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar in a statement on Monday said that the change marks an important milestone from a ‘colonial mindset’ to a democratic one. The Governor said the the Kerala Raj Bhavan over the years has taken a series of initiatives to open its doors to the public.

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“The Raj Bhavan has organised lectures on important topics such as ‘Operation Sindoor’ by S Gurumurthy and ‘Global Economic Trends: India’s Challenges and Prospects’ by V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India,” the statement said.

Governor Arlekar also appealed to the people of Kerala to wholeheartedly support this initiative and uphold the spirit of Lok Bhavan. Earlier, the Governor’s office released photos and videos showing workers removing the Raj Bhavan nameboard from the gate wall.

In a sweeping move to shed colonial-era terminology, the Union Home Ministry On November 25, issued a directive to all States and Union Territories to rename the official residences of Governors as “Lok Bhavan” and those of Lieutenant Governors as “Lok Niwas”.

The proposal to rename Raj Bhavan to Lok Bhavan was proposed by Rajendra Arlekar at the All India Governor’s Conference 2022, when he was the Governor of Bihar .Arlekar argued that the redesignation would help bring the Governor’s establishment closer to the people. He said that the change would symbolise accessibility, transparency, and democratic participation.

The proposal was examined and finalised by a committee chaired by Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi, who argued that the term “Raj Bhavan” carries a distinct colonial imprint and must be replaced with a more democratic, people-centric label.