Kerala Governor to meet state ministers over pending bills

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan is expected to meet four ministers of the state government on Thursday evening to discuss some of the bills pending before him for approval, an official source said.

The meeting will be in the evening after 7.30 PM as Khan, who is presently out of station, will reach here after 7 PM, the source said.

The ministers who will be meeting the Governor are Law Minister P Rajeeve, Higher Education Minister R Bindu, Cooperation Minister V Vasavan and Sports Minister V Abdurahiman, the source said.

Kerala Animal Husbandry Minister J Chinchurani had already met Khan to discuss certain bills, the source said.

Of the several bills pending approval of the Governor, the prominent ones are the Lok Ayukta Amendment Bill and the University Laws Amendment Bills.

The Lok Ayukta Bill aims to make the executive the appellate authority over reports by the anti-corruption watchdog.

Of the University Laws Amendment Bills, one is regarding replacing the Governor as Chancellor of universities in the state with eminent academicians and the other would lead to curtailing the powers of the Governor in appointing vice-chancellors (VC) to universities.

Khan has in the past, on several occasions, told the media that the bills were pending as he needed some clarifications and had asked the state government to provide the same, but none was forthcoming.