Punjab Governor to remain Chancellor of universities

Chandigarh, July 17: The Governor would remain Chancellor of all 12 state-run universities in Punjab with the President of India refusing to give consent to a 2023 Bill passed by the Legislative Assembly.

The Assembly had passed a Bill to replace the Governor with the Chief Minister as the Chancellor.

The Bill comes amid a war of supremacy between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Governor Banwarilal Purohit over appointing Vice-Chancellors.

The Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill of 2023 was returned without assent by the President to the Punjab Raj Bhawan last week, official sources said.

Official sources said two other Bills -- the Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill of 2023 and the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill of 2023 are awaiting presidential assent.

The Bill for universities was brought by the AAP government after a standoff between the Governor and the Chief Minister over the appointment of Vice-Chancellors of Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana and Baba Farid University of Health Sciences in Faridkot.

These Bills were kept on hold for months after the Governor declared the Assembly session called for their passing “patently illegal.”

Later, the Supreme Court declared the session constitutionally valid and asked the Governor to take a call on the Bills.

Apart from the AAP, the universities laws Bill was supported by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the lone Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) member of the House.

Replying to the debate on the Punjab Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, CM Mann had said the West Bengal Assembly, too, passed a similar Bill last year (2022).

Also, the Kerala Assembly passed a Bill to replace the governor as the Chancellor of universities in the state.

CM Mann had informed the Assembly that “Punjab has rich culture, traditions and heritage, which need to be perpetuated among the younger generations. For this, educational institutions, especially universities, can play a pivotal role.

“To carry forward this legacy, men of high integrity, prudence and repute need to be appointed in the universities of the state as Vice-Chancellors. However, the Governor, who is not from the state and is not aware of its history and culture, is empowered to appoint the Vice-Chancellors, who also creates unnecessary hurdles, which are unfair.”