Chennai: Stressing that the Cauvery issue is close to his heart, Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Tuesday said the Central government is close to setting up the Cauvery Water Management Board.
“I spoke to Union (water resources) minister Nitin Gadkari even today on forming the Cauvery Water Management Board. He assured he is very serious and the forming of Cauvery Water Management Board is on. Whenever I am going to Delhi, I am raising this issue”, he told reporters at a press conference in the Raj Bhavan.
He said he had focused on the TN demand for CMB even at a recent conference of Governors where the President,Vice-President and Prime Minister were present along with the entire Union Cabinet.
To another question, he said, “I am satisfied to an extent with the functioning of the (state) government.” On the statement of opposition leader M.K. Stalin that the Governor had expressed dissatisfaction with the government's functioning, Purohit said, “I had not said I was not satisfied with the government. In education sector, I said something needs to be done after two Vice-Chancellors have been prosecuted.”
Referring to opposition criticism that he was conducting review meetings in the districts, the Governor said they were not review meetings. “It is the media who gave that name. Basically, I wanted to know about the districts and instruct the officials to be transparent,” he explained.
On the controversy surrounding M.K. Surappa's appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, he said, “The search committee had invited applications from all over the country. Among the applicants, three were shortlisted and called for interview. I personally interviewed them. While the other two candidates had background of bio-chemistry and mathematics, Surappa had rich engineering background.” He further said, “I don't believe in discrimination on the basis of boundaries. I am sworn to protect the Constitution which doesn't discriminate on the basis of caste, gender or region.”
