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| Devanand Konwar (below) and PK Shahi |
Patna, Jan. 31: The fate of the Patna University (Amendment) Bill, 2011 and the Bihar State University (Amendment) Bill, 2011 hangs in the balance because Governor Devanand Konwar is yet to make up his mind on giving assent to the two statutes.
The two bills were passed by the legislature in December last year. With more than a month having elapsed when the bills were sent for the gubernatorial assent, the state government’s frustration on the issue has started coming to the fore.
Or so it appeared from the assertion of state education minister P.K. Shahi. “The Governor, being the chancellor of universities, is expected to be more concerned with university affairs. The people of the state expect that he would give his assent to the bills at the earliest,” he told The Telegraph.
Shahi added that the amendment bills intended to streamline the overall functioning of universities, including ensuring a transparent mode of appointment of vice-chancellors (VCs).
Though he refused to elaborate the point, a highly placed source in the education department said streamlining the finances of state universities was one of the main concerns of the government as it was completely in dark about the amount of money it has to give to universities for clearing arrears and also about utilisation of funds given to the universities by the government.
Citing example, the source said during hearing of a case in the high court in 2006, it had come to the light that the state was supposed to give Rs 1,200 crore as arrears to the universities. “Much to the surprise of the government, the universities are not claiming that the government has to pay another Rs 1,800 crore in the arrear head even though it has already paid Rs. 500 crore for the purpose after the matter was brought to the high court.”
The source also claimed that universities were diverting funds given under various heads. “Had it not been the case, how would universities pay the salaries of all the staff even though many of them have staff more than the sanctioned strength?” he questioned. The amendment bills talk of giving the state government powers to conduct inquiry into the financial matters of the universities.
Another major issue on which the government wants to have a say through the proposed amendments pertains to the appointment of VCs.
“At present, the Governor enjoys discretionary power in appointment of VCs. But once the bills are enacted, he would have to go by the recommendations made by the search committee, in which the government would have the majority,” said the source.
Shahi’s assertion and the issues raised by the education department source notwithstanding, sources in Raj Bhavan indicated that the Governor was not in a hurry. “The Governor had a few rounds of discussions with senior officials on the content of the bills. But he has not yet gone through the bills, which he would certainly do before making up his mind on the fate of the two statutes,” a highly placed source in the Raj Bhavan said.
The source added that the fate of the bills was not going to be decided at least in the coming week as the Governor has gone out of the state and was expected to return by February 7.
Though the source claimed that no one could predict about the Governor’s stand on the two bills, he maintained that it would really be interesting to see how things unfold as statutes of similar nature were earlier rejected by the government as he withheld his assent to the bills that were passed by the state legislature in March 2011.
“The Governor had turned down the bills on the ground that those would interfere in the autonomy of the state universities,” the source added.
As far as the constitutional provision (Article 200) is concerned, the Governor has four options as far as fate of a non-money bill, passed by state legislature, is concerned. He can either give his assent or withhold it. The third option available with the governor is that he might return the bill with a message. The Governor, as the fourth option, can also reserve a bill for the consideration of the President.