Calcutta, Sept. 8: The Bengal cabinet today approved a proposal to change the name of the state to "Bangla" in Bengali, English and Hindi after the Centre scrapped its earlier proposal of changing the name to "Bengal" in English, "Banga" or "Bangla" in Bengali and "Bangal" in Hindi.

"The state cabinet today approved a proposal of renaming the state 'Bangla' in three languages - English, Bengali and Hindi. The Centre has rejected our earlier proposal. The new proposal would be sent to Delhi for clearance," parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee said.

The Bengal government had sent the earlier proposal to the Centre in August last year.

According to a state government official, two central ministries had objected to the proposal sent by the state. The letter rejecting the proposal was issued in March this year.

"The home ministry wanted the West Bengal government to adopt a name that does not change when pronounced in English, Bengali or Hindi. This will help the administrative cause. Our new proposal has addressed the issue," the official said.

But the new proposal hasn't addressed the second concern raised by the external affairs ministry.

"When the earlier proposal had reached the foreign affairs ministry, it felt that the name 'Bangla' might be confused with neighbouring Bangladesh. The new proposal does not address this issue," said the official.