The Karnataka cabinet, on Thursday, approved a bill that replaces the governor with the chief minister as the chancellor of a rural development university in the state.
The Siddaramaiah cabinet which has been mulling over curtailing the powers of the governor, more so after Governor Thawarchand Gehlot granted sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA land allotment case, has decided to introduce the Karnataka State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj University Bill, 2024 , in the upcoming winter session of the state legislature that begins on December 9, at Belagavi.
Law Minister H.K. Patil said the bill was meant to make the university (set up in Gadag in 2016) “more active” and also help make “quicker decisions”. “Till now, the governor was the chancellor of the university developed to impart education focusing on rural development. But, after the amendment, the chief minister will be the chancellor. As the university is directly related to panchayat administration and rural development, we wanted decision making to be quicker,” said Patil.
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After the passage of the bill in both Houses of the state legislature, it will be sent for governor’s assent and the governor is free to either approve it or reject it. However, a new law to be enacted could include all 31 Public Universities in the state, say seniors in the party.
At present, the search committee appointed by the state government shortlists three names of eligible candidates (academicians) for the appointment to the vice-chancellor and sends it to the governor for his approval. But, once the proposed bill becomes a law, the state government will be free to finalise a single name out of the three names proposed by the search committee, which will then be sent to the governor for his nod.
Slamming the Siddaramaiah government for “mixing” politics with education, state BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra said the Siddaramaiah government was “polluting” the higher education system. “The purpose of the governor, who is the constitutional head, occupying the chancellor’s post, was to keep politics out of education. But, the Siddaramaiah government which is steeped in corruption, is misusing its power to pollute even the high education system. This move will encourage political interference in the RDPR university. The Congress government which has been intolerant towards the governor and treating him like an enemy, is planning to unsettle the Constitutional framework. I strongly condemn this decision of the cabinet.”
Incidentally, this is not the first time a state government has tried to curtail the powers of the governor as the chancellor. West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have made a similar move. However, the Siddaramaiah cabinet hopes to emulate the Gujarat model.
In 2013, when Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat, his government had pushed for a similar bill. But then governor Kamla Beniwal (appointed by the UPA government at the Centre) had refused to sign the bill. Eventually, the bill was approved much later after Beniwal was replaced by O.P. Kohli as the governor.