Agricultural Education in India & the role of ICAR

In Context

• Recently, the Kerala High Court set aside the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS). 

More about the News

• The court as listed two specific violations for not accepting the appointment: 
  • The search committee recommended a single name and not a panel of three names; and 
  • In the search committee, the State government included the Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) instead of a nominee of the UGC.
• Issue:
  • Breaking the equilibrium:
    • Over the past five decades, the ICAR was successful in facilitating agricultural education as a national expert body and without overstepping into the constitutional jurisdiction of the State governments. 
    • The Kerala High Court’s judgment threatens to disrupt this delicate equilibrium maintained over the past five decades. 
  • Jeopardising the uniformity in agricultural education:
    • The judgment also threatens to jeopardise the ICAR’s ongoing efforts to ensure a minimum level of uniformity in agricultural education in the country, including in the appointment of Vice-Chancellors. 
  • Substituting the role of the ICAR:
    • ICAR’s Model Act stipulates the constitution of the search committee for Vice-Chancellors with three members:
      • The Director-General of ICAR; 
      • One nominee of the government; and 
      • One nominee of the Chancellor. 
      • But the Kerala High Court judgment has made the presence of an ICAR representative invalid and necessitates its replacement with a UGC representative.
    • Essentially, the court has sought to substitute the role of the ICAR with the UGC’s regulations.
    • What is at stake is not just the spirit of federalism but also the unique status conferred to agricultural education by the Constitution.

Evolution of agricultural education in India

• Opinions of constituent assembly:
  • Few members in the constituent assembly suggested that the Union government must play a central role in agriculture. 
  • But, T.T. Krishnamachari suggested that “beyond taking certain powers for the purpose of co-ordination, Centre is not capable of handling this vast problem [of agriculture]”.
• Agricultural Education as a part of State List:
  • Thus, agriculture was included in the List II (State List) in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. 
  • More importantly, agricultural education was detached from the other streams of higher education and attached to the occupied field of agriculture in List II.
    • Education was included in List III (Concurrent List). 
  • Implications of the move:
    • The legal implication of the exclusion of agricultural education from Concurrent List is that agricultural universities have historically been facilitated by the ICAR.
  • DARE:
    • After independence, the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) was set up in 1973 in the Ministry of Agriculture. 
    • The major functions of DARE were to facilitate agricultural research and education, coordinate between the Centre and the States, and attend to matters related to the ICAR.  
• Yashpal Committee recommendations:
  • The committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (Yashpal Committee, 2009) has recommended setting up of a constitutional body – the National Commission for Higher Education and Research.
    • It would be a unified supreme body to regulate all branches of higher education including agricultural education.
  • Presently, regulation of agricultural education is the mandate of 
    • ICAR, 
    • Veterinary Council of India (Veterinary sub-discipline) and 
    • Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (Forestry sub-discipline).

Source: TH