New Delhi: The government Tuesday informed Parliament that 12,576 posts were vacant in agricultural universities till July this year against the sanctioned positions of 33,686.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, said as agriculture, including agricultural education, is a state subject, filling up of the vacant positions in State Agriculture Universities (SAUs) fall under the purview of respective state governments.
However, time-to-time accreditation is carried out by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) through National Agricultural Education Accreditation Board, wherein it is stressed upon to fill the vacant positions for the award of accreditation, he said.
For the filling up of vacancies related to Mumbai-based Central Institute of Fisheries Education, which is a deemed university of ICAR, the central government has already taken necessary steps, he added.
Asked if the Centre proposes to set up an all India body on the lines of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) to monitor and regulate the functioning of agricultural colleges, the minister said Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Veterinary Council of India (VCI), National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), Council of Architecture (CoA), National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET), etc. — will act as Professional Standard-Setting Bodies (PSSBs).
“They (PSSBs) will play a key role in the higher education system and will be invited to be members of the General Education Council (GEC),” he said.
These bodies, after restructuring as PSSBs, will continue to draw the curricula, lay down academic standards and coordinate between teaching, research and extension of their domain/discipline, as members of the GEC.
As members of the GEC, they would help in specifying the curriculum framework, within which Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) may prepare their own curricula.
“Thus, PSSBs would also set the standards or expectations in particular fields of learning and practice while having no regulatory role,” Tomar said.
All HEIs will decide how their educational programmes respond to these standards, among other considerations, and would also be able to reach out for support from these standard-setting bodies or PSSBs if needed, he said.
In this context, ICAR is responsible to oversee, regulate and facilitate agricultural education and research in the country, he added.
ICAR, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, is the apex body for co-ordinating, guiding and managing research and education in agriculture, including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the entire country.
PTI