Governor Banwarilal Purohit has been breathing fresh air into the Raj Bhavan. Purohit is multi-faceted: an active politician, he was a member of the Maharashtra Assembly, Minister and Member of Parliament for three terms and a media magnate. He acquired Hitavada, the 1908-established English daily, widely circulated in Central India. Intimately involved in the social and economic upliftment of the region, he is credited with setting up major Central Government institutions like South Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC), Central Institute of Cotton Research (CICR), National Research Centre for Citrus (NRCC), Raman Science Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research and Development Centre (JNARDC) and several other projects in Nagpur.
The Governor has been proactive right from day one of his arrival in Tamil Nadu. In these 14 months, he had traveled extensively in the state. He has held meetings with the district administrations, with public and citizens from different occupations to understand their individual problems and issues.
The best impact of the Governor is seen in his success in ridding corruption in higher education. As chancellor of the state universities, the Governor is empowered to appoint the vice chancellors. Purohit adopted a transparent system, ensuring the three-member committee to recommend the list of names consisted of persons of repute and include a judge as the head. His care and the strict adherence to the candidates fulfilling norms relating to the qualification, experience, academic records, and research deserve praise. In these, he also searched for talents outside the state’s borders. So far 17 heads of universities have been selected.
Yet another exciting facet relates to the Governor is taking the subjects for his addresses with serious interest. He has participated in over 250 public functions. Look at some of the events like the conference on Louis Braille, the South Indian Numismatic Society, Annual World Tamil Festival, the Annual Sadas of the Music Academy… For each one of these Purohit delved deep into the subject and provided abundant information on the concerned subject! A media man’s delight in providing information-rich hand-outs!
Raj Bhavan expenses pruned to a sixth!
The Governor has been frugal. Aghast at the leakages by the staff at Raj Bhavan, he got the humongous expenses meticulously audited only to find callous unconcern and frauds. Look at the savings: for the six months before his moving into the Raj Bhavan, total expenditure incurred on catering, travel, garden contingencies, housekeeping and electricity charges was Rs168 lakh. In the subsequent six months, this has been curtailed to Rs 30.31 lakh!
The Governor travels by train for tours within the state; not in a special saloon but in the normal compartment.
The Governor is deeply impressed with the level of education and commitment of the average Tamils and for their culture and heritage. He frankly admits that these have been much more impressive here than even in his home state of Maharashtra. He is in appreciation of the industrious nature of the Tamils, their heritage of language and culture. One hears him quote often from Thirukkural. Understandably the development thrust of the state is dear to
him. – SV
