Tamil Nadu: 13 Bills Pending With Governor Says RTI Reply, 2 From AIADMK Tenure

A reply by the Tamil Nadu Law Department, dated 15 June, to an RTI query by The Hindu has stated that there are 13 Bills pending with the Governor, (as of 22 May), out of which 2 are pending from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) regime.

These are the Tamil Nadu Fisheries University (Amendment) Bill, 2020, and the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Both the amendments wanted to give the government the power of inspection and inquiry instead of the Chancellor (Governor).

Some of the other Bills pending with the Governor are the Tamil Nadu Universities Laws (Amendment Bill), 2022, the Chennai University (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the Tamil Nadu Universities Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022.

While many of these Bills want to make it possible for the state government to appoint the Vice Chancellors to state universities, one of them seeks to include the Finance Secretary as a Syndicate Member in 10 state universities.

Regarding the number of Bills that Governor RN Ravi has given assent to, the response stated that while he had given assent to 48 bills last year, he had given assent to 21 Bills this year.

The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has been at loggerheads with Governor Ravi over a number of issues, including granting of assent to Bills.

It had held him responsible for the deaths of those who committed suicide due to losses in online rummy. Governor Ravi had returned the Bill banning online rummy for reconsideration of the Assembly and gave his assent to it after it was passed again.

In April, it passed a resolution in the Assembly to urge the President and the central government to prescribe a time period for Governors to give assent to Bills.

Earlier this month, Chief Minister MK Stalin said that his government was considering legal action on the issue similar to a case filed by the Telangana government.

Recently, Higher Education minister K Ponmudy had held Governor Ravi responsible for the delay in convocations at state universities and stated that the problem could be eliminated if the Chief Minister was made the Chancellor instead of the Governor.