Panaji, March 30 (IANS) After President Pranab Mukherjee, Goa Governor Bharat Vir Wanchoo has also dropped the “His Excellency” honorific preceding his name for official purposes.
The state government issued a circular earlier this week asking all government officials to drop the colonial title preceding the governor’s name in all official communication and engagements.
The decision was taken “as per wishes” of the governor himself, said Gurudas Pilarnekar, joint secretary in the state general administration department.
Wanchoo will henceforth be addressed as ‘Honourable Governor’ in English and ‘Rajyapal Mahoday’ in Hindi. An ex Indian Police Service officer and former head of the Special Protection Group (SPG), he took over as Goa governor last year after his retirement from service.
Shortly after being sworn in as president last year, Pranab Mukherjee had decided to do away with the colonial trappings of his chair, by doing away with titles like ‘His Excellency and Mahamahim’. He also preferred ‘Honourable’ and traditional Indian title Shri as a prefix preceding his name.
