Uncertainty over Governor nod to 7 pending Bills

Hyderabad: Although the Telangana High Court's intervention brought an end to the conflict between Pragathi Bhavan and Raj Bhavan over the Budget Session, there is still uncertainty regarding Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan's approval of seven Bills that have been pending with her since September of last year.

Legislative affairs minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy visited Raj Bhavan on Monday and requested the Governor to approve the Bills that were passed on September 14, 2022. The Governor only assured to look into the matter without giving any specific timeframe.

Of the eight Bills passed on that day, the Governor gave her assent to only one– Telangana GST (Amendment) Bill, 2022, seeking inclusion of some more items under the purview of GST as per a decision taken at a GST Council meeting held by the Union finance ministry in June.

The seven bills included one on setting up a common recruitment board for making appointments in 15 state universities, of which the Governor is the chancellor. Others pending are: the University of Forestry Bill; Azamabad Industrial Area (Termination and regulation of leases) (Amendment) Bill; Municipal Laws (Amendment) Bill; the Public Employment (Regulation of age of superannuation) (Amendment) Bill; the Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill and Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Amendments Bill.

Of these the government hopes to get the Bills on common recruitment board, municipal laws  and private universities approved quickly.

Several municipalities held by BRS are facing no-confidence motion due to rebellion among councillors, in places where the councils have completed three years of their five-year tenure. The Municipal Act, 2019 allows this. The government amended the Act in September 2022 increasing this period to four years but the Governor is yet to grant approval. If the Governor approves the amendment Bill, the councillors will have to wait another year to move no-trust motions.

The teacher recruitment process under a unified board has halted with the Governor keeping approval of the Bill pending. Education minister Sabitha Indra Reddy had visited Raj Bhavan along with officials to clarify the doubts raised by the Governor in November last year.

The government granted private university status to few educational institutions, but it could not be implemented due to the pending Telangana State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Amendments Bill.