MUMBAI, April 18: Governor P C Alexander has said his reappointment for a second term came as a pleasant surprise to him and underscored the point that ``the post of governor is above politics and political considerations.''In an interview to The Indian Express, Alexander, who will take the oath of office for a second time on April 21, said granting him another terms was the ``prerogative of the Centre'' and expressed happiness that it was an ``apolitical'' decision.Alexander, 77, sets a record of sorts in the State because he was appointed in January 1993 by the Congress government, continued through the United Front Rule and has apparently gained the trust and confidence of the BJP-led government.
Reminiscing on his first term, Alexander said when he took over in 1993, it was a year of tragedies: the Mumbai riots followed by the serial blasts and then the Marathwada earthquake. ``The tragic memories of these incidents are still fresh in my mind,'' he pointed out.
On the positive side,Alexander considers the introduction of a uniform legislation for all the universities and the drive launched to create awareness about AIDS as his major contributions. ``In my capacity as the Chancellor of the universities, I got adequate opportunity to implement the Common University Act which is a landmark legislation not only in Maharashtra but in the entire country. It helped us to improve the university administration and also the standard of education at all levels,'' he pointed out.
The Ashwamegh event, jointly organised by all the 16 universities of the State was a big success. ``Though we have not been able to arrest the trend, certainly, we succeeded in creating awareness about AIDS. After our successful programme, we plan to organise a similar event in the Marathwada region in the current year,'' he added. On his plans in the second term, Alexander said his main emphasis will be on improving standard of education. ``In urban areas, the colleges are up to the mark. But we will have to concentrateon educational institutions in the rural and semi-urban areas where, at the moment, there is scope for improvement,'' he said.
Replying to a question, Alexander said following setting up of statutory development boards for Vidarbha, Marathwada and rest of Maharashtra, he has been able to allocate equitable funds to these regions.
``Under the constitution, I am duty bound to ensure that funds meant for one region do not lapse or get diverted to any other region. During the last three years, I feel that I have fulfilled my constitutional duty,'' he added.
Along with removal of backlog in the field of technical education, he was also planning to examine the backlog in the field of services. ``A high level committee to study the backlog in services has recently submitted its report, which is being examined,'' he added. Asked about his relations with the State Government, Alexander said there was not a single occasion when he had a conflict with Chief Minister Manohar Joshi or any of the politicalfunctionary in Maharashtra.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
