The governor of Uttarakhand is the nominal head of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Appointed by the president of India, the governor holds office at the president's pleasure. The governor is de jure head of the state government; all its executive actions are taken in the governor's name. However, the governor must act on the advice of the popularly elected Uttarakhand Council of Ministers, headed by the chief minister of Uttarakhand, who thus hold de facto executive authority at the state-level. The Constitution of India also empowers the governor to act upon his or her own discretion, such as the ability to appoint or dismiss a ministry, recommend President's rule, or reserve bills for the president's assent. The governor of Uttarakhand has their official residences at the Raj Bhavans in Dehradun and Nainital.

thumb|right|210px|Raj Bhavan retreat at [[Nainital, Uttarakhand.]]

Uttarakhand was created on 9 November 2000, when it was carved out from the Himalayan districts of Uttar Pradesh. The first governor of the state was Surjit Singh Barnala who served in office between 2000 and 2003. The current governor is Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh (Retd.) who has been in office since 14 September 2021. As of date, eight individuals have served as the governor of the state including two women - Margaret Alva and Baby Rani Maurya. No governor has till date completed full term in office. Sudarshan Agarwal holds the record of the longest-serving governor with 4 years, 293 days in office.

Qualifications

Article 157 and Article 158 of the Constitution of India specify eligibility requirements for the post of governor. They are as follows:

A governor must:

  • be a citizen of India.
  • be at least 35 years of age.
  • not be a member of either house of the parliament or house of the state legislature.
  • not hold any office of profit.

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 (legislative assembly) & vidhan parishad, and
  • Discretionary powers to be carried out according to the discretion of the governor.

Apart from enjoying various constitutional powers, the governor of Uttarakhand is the ex-officio Chancellor of the twelve state universities of Uttarakhand. The universities include Doon University, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Uttarakhand Medical Education University, Kumaun University, Soban Singh Jeena University, Sri Dev Suman Uttarakhand University, Uttarakhand Ayurved University, Uttarakhand Open University, Uttarakhand Residential University, Uttarakhand Sanskrit University, Uttarakhand Technical University, and Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry

List of governors of Uttarakhand

;Legend

  • Died in office
  • Transferred
  • Resigned/removed

;Color key

  • indicates acting/additional charge

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; border:1px #aaf solid;"

! rowspan="2"| #

! rowspan="2" class="unsortable"| Portrait

! rowspan="2" style="width:14em" | Name<br><small>(born–died)</small>

! rowspan="2" style="width:7em" | Home state

! colspan="3"| Tenure in office

! rowspan="2" style="width:7em" | Appointer<br/>(President)

|-

! style="width:7em"| From

! style="width:7em"| To

! style="width:5em"| Time in office

|-

! 1

| 70px

| Surjit Singh Barnala<br>

| Punjab

| <br/>2000

| <br/>2003

|

| K. R. Narayanan

|-

! 2

| 70px

| Sudarshan Agarwal<br>

| Punjab

| <br>2003

| <br>2007

|

| A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

|-

! 3

| 70px

| Banwari Lal Joshi<br>

| Rajasthan

| <br/>2007

| <br/>2009

|

| rowspan="3"| Pratibha Patil

|-

! 4

| 70px

| Margaret Alva<br>

| Karnataka

| <br/>2009

| <br/>2012

|

|-

! 5

| 70px

| Aziz Qureshi<br>

| Madhya Pradesh

| <br/>2012

| <br/>2015

|

|-

! 6

| 70px

| Krishan Kant Paul<br>

| Chandigarh

| <br/>2015

| <br/>2018

|

| Pranab Mukherjee

|-

! 7

| 70px

| Baby Rani Maurya<br>

| Uttar Pradesh

| <br/>2018

| <br/>2021

|

| rowspan="2"| Ram Nath Kovind

|-

! 8

| 87x87px

| <br>Gurmit Singh <br><br>

| Punjab

| <br/>2021

| Incumbent

|

|-

|}

Timeline

Oath

“I, <name>, do swear in the name of God/solemly affirm that I will faithfully

execute the office of Governor (or discharge the functions

of the Governor) of Uttarakhand and will to

the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the

Constitution and the law and that I will devote myself to

the service and well-being of the people of Uttarakhand.”Main, [Name], Ishwar ki shapath leta hoon (ya nishtha se pratigya karta hoon) ki main sachhe mann se Governor (Rajyapal) ke roop mein [State Name] ke pad ka karyabhar sambhalunga (ya zimmedari uthaunga).

​Main apni poori kabiliyat se Samvidhan (Constitution) aur kanoon (Law) ki raksha, suraksha aur bachaav karunga, aur main apne aap ko [State Name] ki janta ki seva aur kalyan (well-being) mein samarpit karunga."

See also

  • Government of Uttarakhand
  • Chief Minister of Uttarakhand
  • Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly
  • Speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly
  • Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly
  • Cabinet of Uttarakhand
  • Chief Justice of Uttarakhand
  • List of current Indian governors
  • List of presidents of India

References

  • Official website