Panaji: Governors are banned from taking political positions in India, newly-appointed Goa Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai said on Thursday.

Pillai also said that Governors should focus on social commitment instead of commitment to politics.

"The Governors are not expected to play one way or the other and take a political stand. Any political part to play (on the part of the Governor) is banned in India," Pillai told a press conference at the Raj Bhavan, soon after he was sworn-in as the Governor of Goa.

He also said that a Supreme Court ruling in 2010 had put the non-political aspect of the Governor in context.
"Governors are expected to have a commitment to the society, but not politically," he said.

Pillai, who hails from Kerala, also praised Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan's hunger strike on Wednesday in protest against the social evil of dowry.

"The Kerala Governor is aggressive against some social evils," Pillai said, adding that even Mahatma Gandhi undertook the practice of self-sacrifice to "change the people of this country".