“Most of the students studying agriculture are from a poor rural background. The ARS (Agricultural Research Services) is pretty much like the IAS exam for agricultural scientists. Firstly, there has been no recruitment for the post for the last two-and-a-half years, and secondly, the imperative of the PhD degree is quelling the dreams of the students from a poor economic background,” said Santosh Kumar (name changed), a student from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, on the condition of anonymity. Santosh is the son of a farmer and is an ARS aspirant.

One hundred and twelve institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and 74 agricultural universities form one of the largest agricultural research systems in the world but these government institutions are reeling under the shortage of agricultural scientists.

In India, the Agricultural Scientific Selection Board (ASRB) recruits the agricultural scientists, just like the IAS are selected by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission), but the recent changes made in the selection of these scientists last year have been constantly opposed since by the agricultural students. On May 31, thousands of students from the IARI (Pusa), the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal) and the Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai (CIFE) have raised their voices on social media.

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, Delhi, has 1,200 agricultural students. Its student union president, Jagmohan Singh, told Gaon Connection over the phone: “Previously, the students used to give the ARS examination after completing their post-graduation (MSc), but in February 2019, the Agricultural Scientists Selection Board made a major change and made Ph.D. the minimum eligibility. Now, the students studying agriculture are from rural backgrounds. Who will first do four-year BSc, 2-3-year MSc and then further spending 3 to 5 years doing Ph.D. and then be eligible for the examination? In such a way, economically weak students and children of farmers will have progressively fewer opportunities to become agricultural scientists as they are already saddled with more social responsibilities.

The ARS examination takes place at three levels. The first is the written test, then the main examination, and finally the interview. This whole process takes about a year’s time. The second problem of students is the absence of a continuous selection process. For two-and-a-half years, students have been waiting for the recruitment while the 2017 notification came in 2019 and the process for 2018-19 is yet to begin.

The students raised their voices on Twitter on May 31 through the national organization of agricultural students, Agrivision. Gajendra Tomar, the national convener and the student of agriculture from Agrivision said on the phone: “India is an agrarian country and the scientists have a big role to play in everything, from research to dissemination. Institutions like the ICAR have done a lot of work, but there is a greater need for a lot of quality work that is why it is necessary that the recruitment of agricultural scientists continues. But the process has been halted for some time now.”

Gajendra Tomar highlighted the impact of the changes made in the scientific selection test. He said: “The ARS is like an IAS exam for the field of agriculture, but the eligibility for the IAS exam is graduation whereas we first had MSc and more recently, Ph.D. as minimum eligibility. The student who manages to do MSc (Master in Agriculture) becomes a fine research scholar, but the economic condition of a lot of people is not so good that they may study even after the age of 30. They need jobs. Here, 80 per cent of the people are from villages, so the requirement of a Ph.D. degree has made it even more difficult for them.”

Only certain Ph.D. students out of many get allowances and a few facilities, but according to agricultural students, these numbers are only around 10 per cent.

As per Gajendra Tomar, he has been taking up this issue with the Director-General of ICAR, Dr Trilochan Mahapatra, and several department ministers. They have their own take on the matter.

“Officials say they need quality research. Secondly, students who become scientists after selection through the ARS after MSc, later on, take study leave after only a few years into the job, which affects research. I understand these aspects, but the government should simply add a condition that only after 5-6 years of the job will somebody get a study leave, but it is not rational for the poor students to prepare for the competition after a Ph.D.”

Jagmohan Singh, the president of the IARI student organization, said: “The compulsory Ph.D. degree is becoming problematic for both the poor and the girls because one has to study, firstly, for 15 years then await the competitive exam for one year. Such expenses cannot be met by their family. And many of the girl students studying with us say that after 30 years of age, they are constantly under pressure to marry, so their careers can be ruined.”

Recruited through the ARS, Shreya Virmani, a research scholar (MSc) to the IAR tweeted on May 31, “Every student cannot afford to do PhD. No security of job even at age of 28 is another way of increasing unemployment and making sure that young generation show no interest in agriculture.”

Mausami Priyadarshini, who is doing PhD in agriculture economy, wrote in support of these students that students are losing interest in agri-business due to minimum qualification norms and irregular recruitment of the ARA.

There is a huge shortage of assistant professors, including agricultural scientists, in India, not only in the ICR institutions but also in the agricultural universities of the states, though a major change in the selection model of agricultural scientists is also being attributed to this. A former director general of the IAS told Gaon Connection on the condition of anonymity: “The change in the agricultural scientist recruitment has not happened overnight, it has been mulled over since long. Presently, the agricultural scientific selection board works solely under the Centre whereas before it was linked to the ICAR.”

The UGC has also made PhD mandatory, but the decision was taken in 2017 and will be applicable only by 2021, they have given a lot of time to the candidates, but in the case of ARS, the decision was taken in 2019 and immediately implemented,” said Jagmohan.

Santosh Kumar, a student of agricultural extension, said: “Look at the whole country, agricultural extension and education is in a deplorable state. There is one agricultural scientist on 5,000 farmers. Whereas earlier people did Ph.D. for knowledge, now their goal will be a job. Obviously, everything will be done in haste. Secondly, it would be now difficult for the farmers to make their children agricultural scientists so either they would sell off their land or they would look to some other mode of employment to run the house. After doing so much, if nothing is to be achieved then these farmers would be trapped in under debt. Then what happens to the rest of the farmers in the country shall happen to them.”