Bill on removing Guv as Chancellor after assessing financial implications; will study Gujarat law

The cabinet, which will convene a special assembly session in December, will extend the same until January next year so as to exclude the Governor’s Policy Address speech. Photo: Manorama News.

Thiruvananthapuram: The State Cabinet has decided to convene a special meeting of the Assembly from December 5 aimed at enacting a law to oust the Governor from the post of Chancellor of 14 universities in the State.

With the recommendation to convene the Assembly session going to the Governor, the Ordinance which was sent to Arif Mohammad Khan to remove him from the post of Chancellor will meet an untimely death.

The Ordinance, which was approved by the Cabinet last week, reached Raj Bhavan only after the Governor had left for Delhi.

He is yet to examine the Ordinance. The Bill will be brought before the Assembly only after studying the financial implications of bringing in experts from different fields as Chancellors in place of the Governor.

A committee headed by the Higher Education Principal Secretary has been entrusted with the task of recommending suggestions after studying the state of affairs in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Rajasthan, which have passed similar Bills.

They will also study the law in Gujarat, which does not engage the Governor as Chancellor.

The draft of the Bill may come up before the next Cabinet meeting.

The main agenda of the next Assembly session is to consider and pass the Bill seeking an amendment to the University Act.

The decision on other Bills to be considered will be taken in the coming days.

SFI flags offensive words against Governor
Meanwhile, the SFI flagged a black banner displaying offensive personal remarks against the Governor at the entrance of Government Sanskrit college in the heart of the state capital on Wednesday.

As the incident turned controversial, the Kerala University Vice Chancellor directed the varsity Registrar to seek an explanation from the college principal.

This was after the Raj Bhavan officials interfered in the matter and handed over the picture of the abusive banner to the VC.

The words in Malayalam transliterated to the meaning that the Raj Bhavan is not the ancestral property of the Governor.

As the matter turned contentious, the SFI leadership asked the college unit to remove the banner.

The same was displayed above the college entrance gate when Minister R Bindu arrived there to attend an official function but was removed by the time she returned.

Move to exclude Governor’s Policy Address
The cabinet, which will convene a special assembly session in December, will extend the same until January next year so as to exclude the Governor’s Policy Address speech.

The LDF government’s decision is to not allow Arif Khan to read out its policies in the new year. The special session will be continued after the Christmas break.

The mini-budget will be presented in January itself and the whole budget passed before March 31.

This way, the government can avoid the Governor’s address. As per the constitution, the Governor shall address the first assembly session of a year. 

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