M A I N   N E W S

Be impartial, PM tells Governors
S Satyanarayanan
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 15
Asking the Governors to rise above partisan politics while discharging their constitutional obligations, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged them to play the role of elder statesmen in ensuring that inter-state issues are handled with sagacity without spilling over as major disputes.

The Prime Minister also urged them to play a positive role in ensuring that communal harmony prevailed in all corners of the country. He also told them to play a pro-active role, as Chancellors of universities, to improve the quality of our universities and bring them up to world standards.

"In these turbulent times we are living in, people have great expectations from this office(Governor). This places an added burden on your shoulders to rise above partisan politics while discharging your constitutional obligations," Dr Singh said while speaking on the second day of the two-day Governors' Conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

"The role of the Governor has varied over time and space, and has come under close public scrutiny. The greater the responsibilities attached to an office, the greater will be public scrutiny in a democracy," Dr Singh said.

In this context, the Prime Minister pointed out that "In our evolving polity, where political patterns have changed substantially over the last 50 years, there is bound to be some partisan controversy or the other challenging the authority and dignity of this high office."

Pointing that an area which is causing some friction in our polity is the interface between states, whether it be on the sharing of waters, or on sharing minerals or on sharing electricity, Dr Singh said "there is need for Governors to play the role of elder statesmen in ensuring that inter-state issues are handled with sagacity without spilling over as major disputes and often, as law and order problems."

Asking the Governors to act as watchdogs and alert the State and Central governments on security threats, Dr Singh said "removed from the hustle and bustle of day-to-day activities, Governors are extremely well placed to assess long term trends in many matters and utilize their wisdom to aid governments in their actions."

Dr Singh said in some cases, internal security problems were a consequence of uneven economic growth, inequities in social institutions or political shortcomings, sometimes these were "outright acts of extremism and terrorism for which there can be no space in a democratic polity."

"Governors must guide Chief Ministers and help them deal with such situations, distinguishing between the genuine and legitimate expression of dissent and disaffection and the manifestations of anti-national, anti-social and anti-people threats to our democratic way of life," he said.

On the economic front, the Prime Minister said after years of the so-called "Hindu rate of growth," the country was in a position to post a 7-8 per cent growth to which there were "no external constraints" any longer.

"It is very much in the realm of possibility for this country to become a prosperous nation, rid of the perennial scourges of poverty, ignorance and disease," he said emphasising that Governors had a critical role to play in the nation's progress.

"While many changes have taken place at the national level in the economic sphere over the last two decades, much more needs to be done...Much of this is to be done at the State level and hence, the role of Governors in ensuring that this happens," the Prime Minister said.

Asserting that Governors can play a positive role in ensuring that communal harmony prevails in all corners of the country, Dr Singh said "they can be a calming influence in turbulent times, a voice of moderation, a soothing hand to those in distress."

Urging the Governors to remain pro-active in strengthening the foundations and the sinews of our educational system, Dr Singh said "Governors must play an active role both inn improving literacy rates and school enrollment and in ensuring academic excellence in universities."

"Our university system is crying out for reform. I urge Governors, who are Chancellors of universities, to improve the quality of our universities and bring them up to world standards," he added.