Governor's office cannot play a political role, says Goa Guv Sreedharan Pillai

He also called for revamping of the education system in the country on scientific lines

Newly-appointed Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai on Thursday said that the office of the Governor cannot take political positions, even as he called for a revamp of the country's education system based on scientific temper.

Pillai also said that he needed time before he could comment on the ongoing Mahadayi inter-state river water dispute with Karnataka.

"The Governors are not expected to play one way or another way, (take a) political stand. Any political part to play is banned in India. Governors are expected to have the committment to society, not politically," Pillai told a press conference at Raj Bhavan, hours after he took over as the Governor of Goa.

Pillai was also all praises for Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, who undertook a daylong fast at Raj Bhavan on Wednesday in protest against dowry. When asked about the ongoing Mhadei inter-state river water dispute, Pillai however said that he needed to "study" the matter.

Pillai called for revamping of the education system in the country on scientific lines, adding that the colonial roots in the education system founded by Thomas Macaulay stemmed from a belief that Indians, as a people, were substandard.

"The education system needed a substantial change. The Macaulay system, you know, started with... the first sentence in the Macaulay education policy that in India people are lower grade people, they are not best," Pillai said.

Pillai was earlier sworn in as Goa Governor by Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta. He was transferred to Goa from a similar gubernatorial assignment in Mizoram.

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