The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), a Union Agriculture Ministry’s arm responsible for agricultural research and education, has cautioned States against the unbridled establishment of new agricultural colleges and universities.
In a letter to Chief Secretaries of States, Himanshu Pathak, Director-General of ICAR, said this trend could impact the country’s agricultural education quality. This proliferation of institutions has led to concerns regarding inadequate infrastructure and insufficient numbers of qualified and experienced faculty.
Pathak said the National Agricultural Research and Education System (NARS), which comprises ICAR and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), played a major role in making India a food surplus nation and improving the quality of agricultural higher education.
“Recently, it has been noticed that the performance of SAUs is affected by the proliferation of universities, including those carved out from the existing universities. These universities were set up without adequate planning, infrastructure, teachers, and meagre allocation of resources,” he said.
Stating that ICAR is the apex body for agricultural education, research, and extension in the country, he asked the States to follow ICAR’s recommendations and obtain ICAR’s permission before granting approvals for the establishment of new agricultural universities or colleges.
This consultation with ICAR is deemed essential to ensure the new institutions meet the required standards for providing quality agricultural education in terms of infrastructure, faculty, and other necessary resources.
He asked the Chief Secretaries of respective States to take the necessary steps to follow the ICAR directive.