Governor of Province No. 1: Difference between revisions
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The '''Governor of West Bengal''' is a [[nominal]] head and representative of the [[President of India]] in the [[States and territories of India|state]] of [[West Bengal]]. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of |
The '''Governor of West Bengal''' is a [[nominal]] head and representative of the [[President of India]] in the [[States and territories of India|state]] of [[West Bengal]]. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of fisve years. [[His Excellency|H.E.]] [[Gopalkrishna Gandhi]] is the current governor (assumed charge of office on [[December 14]], [[2004]]). His official residence is the [[Raj Bhavan (West Bengal)|Raj Bhavan]]. |
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==History== |
==History== |
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Revision as of 09:33, 6 July 2007
The Governor of West Bengal is a nominal head and representative of the President of India in the state of West Bengal. The Governor is appointed by the President for a term of fisve years. H.E. Gopalkrishna Gandhi is the current governor (assumed charge of office on December 14, 2004). His official residence is the Raj Bhavan.
History
In 1912 the Imperial capital of India was moved from Calcutta to Delhi and as some compensation to Bengal the Lieutenant governor with Council gave place to a Governor with a Council thus completing the circle and reverting to the position which had been obtained 200 years ago. In 1947 India achieved independence and the title of governor of Bengal remained the same at it is to the present day.
Powers and functions
The Governor enjoys many different types of powers:
- Executive powers related to administration, appointments and removals,
- Legislative powers related to lawmaking and the state legislature, that is Vidhan Sabha or Vidhan Parishad, and
- Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the Governor.
See also: Governors of India#Powers and functions
Ex-officio Role of Governor
In his ex-officio capacity, the Governor of West Bengal is Chancellor of the universities of West Bengal (at present 14) as per the Acts of the Universities. The Universities are: University of Calcutta, Jadavpur University, University of Kalyani, Rabindra Bharati University, Vidyasagar University, University of Burdwan, North Bengal University, Netaji Subhas Open University, West Bengal University of Technology, Bengal Engineering & Science University, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, University of Animal and Fishery Sciences and West Bengal University of Health Sciences. For Visva Bharati, the Governor is the Pradhana (Rector).
The Governor is also the Chairman/President of some organizations such as Victoria Memorial Hall, Indian Museum, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), Calcutta Cultural Centre (Kolkata Kala Kendra ), Special Fund for R&R of Ex-servicemen, West Bengal (Rajya Sainik Board), Sri Aurobindo Samiti, Indian Red Cross Society - West Bengal State Branch, St. John Ambulance Brigade No. II (West Bengal) District, Bharat Scouts and Guides and the Bengal Tuberculosis Association.
Governor of West Bengal’s Welfare Fund, has the Governor as its Chairman. Contributions from this Fund are given to the needy people for meeting, to some extent the cost of their treatment. Besides the above, at his discretion, the Governor, accepts the position of Chief Patron/Patron or other posts in the honorary capacity, in various organizations that are rendering yeoman service to the society in different fields.
Governors of West Bengal
| # | Name | Took Office | Left Office |
| 1 | Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari | 1946 | 1948 |
| 2 | Kailash Nath Katju | 1948 | 1951 |
| 3 | Harendra Coomar Mookerjee | 1951 | 1956 |
| 4 | Phani Bhusan Chakraborty | 1956 | 1956 |
| 5 | Padmaja Naidu | 1956 | 1967 |
| 6 | Dharma Vira | 1967 | 1969 |
| 7 | Deep Narayan Sinha | 1969 | 1969 |
| 8 | Shanti Swaroop Dhavan | 1969 | 1971 |
| 9 | Anthony Lancelot Dias | 1971 | 1979 |
| 10 | Tribhuvana Narayana Singh | 1979 | 1981 |
| 11 | Bhairab Dutt Pande | 1981 | 1983 |
| 12 | Anant Prasad Sharma | 1983 | 1984 |
| 13 | Satish Chandra | 1984 | 1984 |
| 14 | Uma Shankar Dikshit | 1984 | 1986 |
| 15 | Nurul Hasan | 1986 | 1989 |
| 16 | Thanjavelu Rajeshwar | 1989 | 1990 |
| 17 | Nurul Hasan | 1990 | 1993 |
| 18 | B. Satyanarayan Reddy | 1993 | 1993 |
| 19 | K.V. Raghunatha Reddy | 1993 | 1998 |
| 20 | A.R. Kidwai | 1998 | 1999 |
| 21 | Shyamal Kumar Sen | 1999 | 1999 |
| 22 | Viren J. Shah | 1999 | 2004 |
| 23 | Gopalkrishna Gandhi | 2004 | present |