|As Head of State|
| ||As Chancellor|
|Head in other Organisations|
The Governor's responsibilities as the Head of the State as enacted in "The Constitution of India" ** is given as follows.
| Article || Details|
| 160||The President may make such provision as he thinks fit for the discharge of the functions of the Governor of a State in any contingency not provided for in Part VI Chapter II of Constitution of India.|
| 161||The Governor shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, etc.|
| 163||There shall be Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions except in so far as he is by or under the Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion.|
| 164||The Governor appoints Chief Minister and other Ministers.|
| 165||The Governor appoints the Advocate General for the State.|
| 166||All executive actions of the Governor of a State shall be expressed to be taken in the name of Governor.|
| 174||The Governor shall, from time to time, summon and prorogue the House and dissolve the Legislative Assembly.|
| 175||The Governor may address the Legislative Assembly....; The Governor may send messages to the House.|
| 176 ||Special Address to the House by the Governor.|
| 200||The Governor assents, withholds assent, or reserves for the consideration of the Bill passed by the Legislative assembly.|
| 202 ||The Governor shall in respect of every financial year cause to be laid before the House.... a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure.|
| 203(3)||No demand for a grant shall be made except on the recommendation of the Governor. |
| 205||The Governor shall ........cause to be laid before the House another statement showing estimated amount of expenditure.|
| 213 ||The Governor may promulgate the Ordinances under certain circumstances.|
| 217||The Governor is consulted for appointment of Judges of High Court.|
| 217||Every person appointed to be a judge of the High Court shall ........make and subscribe before the Governor |
........... an oath or affirmation......
Governor's Responsibilities as Chancellor of Universities in State
Under the Universities Act, the Governor is the Chancellor of all the Universities in Kerala and in that capacity he has a direct responsibility as regards the proper management and administration of the Universities. While as Governor he functions with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, as Chancellor he acts independently of the Council of Ministers and takes his own decisions on all University matters. On matters, which have legal implications, he consults the Law & Judiciary Department or the Advocate-General. In the matter of appointment of the Vice-Chancellors, though it is not obligatory on the part of the Chancellor to consult the State Government, it has been the practice to consult the Chief Minister before the appointment is made. It goes to the credit of the political leadership in Kerala that they have never interfered with the functioning of the Governor as Chancellor.
The Governor as Chancellor plays a very constructive role in the administration of the Universities. The Chancellor being the Governor can help to insulate the Universities from unnecessary governmental interference and safeguard their autonomy. At the same time he is in a position to effectively project the needs and problems of the Universities to the State Government at the highest level so that the Government takes a sympathetic view of the genuine difficulties and needs of the universities and expedite decisions on various proposals of the Universities at the Government level.
There are at present 11 Universities in the State as follows:
1. University of Kerala
2. University of Calicut
3. Cochin University of Science and Technology.
4. Mahatma Gandhi University
5. Kannur University
6. Kerala Agricultural University
7. Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit.
8. Kerala University of Health and Allied Sciences
9. Kerala University of Fisheries and Oceanic Studies
10. Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University
11. Kerala Kalamandalam Deemed University for Art & Culture.
12. Thunchathezhuthachan Malayalam University.
13. Kerala Technological University