COIMBATORE: In a first-of-its-kind move by a governor in the State, Banwarilal Purohit, in the city to attend Bharathiar University’s convocation function, convened a meeting of officials from district administration, local body and police department on Tuesday.
The meeting, which started around 3.30 pm, went on for nearly two-and-a-half hours. According to sources in the district administration, the schemes that were implemented in the city by various departments were displayed to Governor Banwarilal Purohit, who had a word of appreciation for them.
He appreciated the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation for maintaining ponds and other infrastructure in the city well, apart from heaping praises on the district administration for the smart card project, implemented better than other cities. According to sources, Banwarilal also compared few projects in Coimbatore to those in Assam. Sources, who attended the meeting, said that he did not criticize the efforts and urged the officials to put in their best efforts. “He just received, what was presented before him,” sources said.
On coming to know that he was facing criticism for conducting a review meeting with government officials, he told top officials that it was common for him to hold meetings with officials since his gubernatorial days in Assam.
BJP State president Tamilisai Soundararajan said the Governor had acted well within his powers and that he did not violate any norm. While the Governor got support from the ruling party, some parties termed it an infringement on Constitution.
‘Guv has no power to take decision’
Giving his opinion on the controversy surrounding the Governor convening a meeting of officials, senior lawyer KM Vijayan said, “The State Governor indeed has powers to meet and question officials but has no power to take any decision regarding governance without the consent of the council of ministers. So, we have to wait and see what happens hereafter.”