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Punjab assembly passes bill to replace governor with CM as chancellor of state universities
The Punjab assembly has passed the Punjab University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, making the chief minister the chancellor of 12 state-run universities, replacing the governor. Punjab is the fourth state to take this decision after West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Aam Aadmi Party has a majority in the state assembly. The bill will lead to amendments in the acts governing 12 universities. The move comes amid run-ins between the chief minister and governor Banwarilal Purohit over a series of issues escalating into letter wars.
Chandigarh
The Punjab assembly on Tuesday unanimously cleared the Punjab University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which paves the way to make the chief minister the chancellor of 12 state-run universities, replacing the governor from that position.
Punjab became the fourth state to take this controversial decision after West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has huge majority in the state assembly, with 92 of the 117 seats.
During a discussion on the bill in the House, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said that Punjab has rich culture, traditions and heritage, which need to be perpetuated among the younger generations.
For this, he said 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 VCs, who also creates unnecessary hurdles, which are unfair,” Mann said.
“The chief minister of Punjab shall be virtue of his office be the chancellor of the university,” read the amendment that was approved in the acts governing 12 universities.
There are 32 universities in all in Punjab, of which 20 are privately run. Mann added that the bill is on the lines of the one passed by West Bengal.
The bill will lead to amendments in the Punjabi University Act, 1961; the Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar Act, 1969; the Jagat Guru Nanak Dev Punjab State Open University Act, 2019; the Sri Guru Teg Bahadur State University of Law, Punjab, Act, 2020; IK Gujaral Punjab Technical University Act, 2014; the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University Act, 1996; the Shahed Bhagat Singh State University Act, 2021; the Sardar Beant Singh State University Act, 2021; the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences Act, 1998; the Guru Ravidas Ayurveda University Punjab Act, 2009; the Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Punjab Sports University Act, 2019; and the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University Act, 2005.
This move comes amid run-ins between Mann and governor Banwarilal Purohit over a series of issues escalating into letter wars. The first disagreement between them surfaced last year in September when Purohit denied the Punjab government to hold a special assembly session, saying that the legislative business proposed by Mann was “unconstitutional”.
HT reached out to the governor’s office for a response but did not get one immediately.
The bill was supported by Dr Sukhwinder Sukhi of the Shiromani Akali Dal, the principal Opposition party in Punjab.
