Article 153 of Indian constitution establishes the office of governor in every state of Indian union. All executive decisions of the state are under the name of governor (Article 154). Governor will hold the office till he/she enjoys the pleasure of president (Article 156).
Governor’s office is of vital importance having multifaceted role. But frequent removal and transfers of governor before end of tenure have lowered the prestige of governor’s office. Also there are many instances where governor played partisan role under the influence of union government, for its political benefits.
Hence there is need of important measures to enhance the importance and usefulness of governor’s office. Various administrative reforms commission like Administrative reforms, Sarkaria, Punchhi commissions have given important recommendations in this regard and they deserve serious consideration. Important measures need to be adopted to make office of governor as more purposeful are discussed below.
o The person to be appointed as a governor should be eminent person and must be a person from outside the state.
o The person to be appointed as a governor must not have participated in active politics at least for some time before appointment and he/she should be detached person and not too intimately connected with the local politics of the state.
o Governor should be appointed in consultation with chief minister of state, so that there will be better coordination between real and nominal executives of state.
o Tenure of Governor must be guaranteed and should not be disturbed except for extremely compelling reasons. In case of termination, there should be a proper mechanism to terminate his/her tenure.
o After demitting office, governor should not be eligible for any other office of profit under state/union government except for a second term as governor or election of President/Vice-President of India.
o At the end of tenure governor should be given reasonable post-retirement benefits.
o Also Governor should follow proper process in selection of chief minister without any political motive.
By implementing above measures, Prestige, utility and constitutional ethos of governor’s office can be enhanced.
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