Guv-Govt spat reaches school level; Sivankutty wants Governor's role to be taught in schools

Thiruvananthapuram: A day after he staged a walk out from a function organised at the Raj Bhavan, general education minister V Sivankutty made a major policy announcement. "Revised school text books will specially include a chapter on the constitutional powers of governors," the minister said on Friday.

This year, the chapter on Governor's powers will be included in the second volume of 10th standard social studies textbook. Higher secondary textbooks will also include the chapter when they are revised.

The minister was not subtle about his intention. "The attempts to use governors to destabilise elected state governments in the country are growing," Sivankutty said. "Even the Supreme Court itself had clarified the role of the governors," he said, referring to the April 8 Supreme Court verdict that set a deadline for governors to decide on bills passed by state assemblies.

"It is important to educate students about the powers and responsibilities of governors as it is at the school level that democratic values should be inculcated," Sivankutty said. "Moreover, the school curriculum has been designed by holding aloft constitutional values," he added.

Sivankutty's walkout was in protest against what he called the objectionable presence of the Bharat Mata portrait on the dais of the Raj Bhavan Central Hall, where the Kerala State Bharat Scouts and Guides Rajya Puraskar award ceremony was held. It was jointly organised by the Raj Bhavan and the General Education Department. Earlier, on June 5, agriculture minister P Prasad too had objected to the display of Bharat Mata portrait during the World Environment Day function organised by the Agriculture Department at the Raj Bhavan. Unlike Sivankutty, he refused to go to the Raj Bhavan when he was told that the 'Bharat Mata' portrait will be displayed and got the entire programme shifted to the Durbar Hall in Secretariat.

Sivankutty said that his office was not informed of the placement of the Bharat Mata portrait, which according to him was part of the Sangh Parivar iconography. The Governor's office alleged that the minister came with malicious premeditated intent. As proof, a Raj Bhavan communique said that the minister had read out from a written speech.

After the walk out, the Raj Bhavan issued a statement saying that the minister had openly insulted the Governor and his office. "It is a pity that the Education minister of the state admitted to the audience that the portrait of Bharatamba is not familiar to him," the Raj Bhavan statement on June 19 said.

And in the speech he delivered after Sivankutty left, Governor Rajendra Arlekar said that it was not possible to "do away with Bharat Mata".