Thiruvananthapuram: Oommen Chandy-led UDF government, too, had taken a stand against the Governor holding the responsibilities of the Chancellor of universities in the State.
The then Chief Secretary, Jiji Thomson, had written a letter to the Centre, expressing the State's view that the Governor need not be functioning as the Chancellor.
The incumbent Governor, Arif Mohammad Khan, has expressed his wish to hand over the responsibilities of the Chancellor to the Chief Minister. The Governor's move was in protest against 'political interferences' in matters related to universities.
The Indian States were asked for their opinion about the recommendations of the Madan Mohan Punchchi commission, appointed by the Manmohan Singh government to study the Centre-State relations.
The Chief Secretary responded on August 26, 2015, saying the Governor should not be holding non-Constitutional responsibilities. Kerala also informed the Centre that the State was favouring the commission's recommendation to insulate the gubernatorial position from criticisms.
Not a political decision: Oommen Chandy
Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy on Tuesday said the Chief Secretary's letter was in response to a questionnaire Punchchi Commission had sent on more than 300 Constitutional issues, including the Governor's responsibilities.
The UDF government's response to the questionnaire was not based on any political decision, but was made at the bureaucratic level, said.
Chandy added that it would be ridiculous to point out the Chief Secretary's letter now with an intention to relieve the Governor of his responsibilities as the Chancellor.
The Punchchi commission had asked whether the State was in favour of excluding the Governor from the office of the Chancellor and reducing his workload since he has several other responsibilities.
Though more than 300 questions were asked to all Indian States, the commission did not make any decision based on the response.
Chandy dismissed the questionnaire saying it was merely an exercise to gather information. If a decision was made at the national level to oust the Governor from the post of Chancellor, the UDF government would have informed the Centre of its decision, the former Chief Minister added.
