The State government’s decision to scrap the Agriculture diploma course in Universities of Agricultural Sciences across the State has come under fire from farmers’ associations, as they say it reduces the opportunity for children of farmers to get training at a low cost.
The Universities of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru and Dharwad had issued notifications for admissions to the two-year Kannada medium diploma in Agriculture, Forestry and Sericulture. However, the notifications have been withdrawn. The websites of the universities cite no reason for it.
University sources say that the State government asked them to discontinue the diploma as it was in line with the New Education Policy (NEP). However, some other officials say that they are closing it down because there is no financial support from the government.
R. Lokesha, Registrar of Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences in Shivamogga, said that the university had stopped the course following instructions from the State government.
The other farm sciences universities — the University of Horticulture Sciences and Karnataka Veterinary, Animal, and Fisheries Sciences University in Bidar— that also offer such diploma courses are yet to issue admission notifications.
The two-year course was residential and had the option of lateral entry into BSc Agriculture, Forestry and Sericulture degrees, after completion. The fee structure was just around ₹5,000 and the job prospects in government and private agencies were high.
Prabhakar Sheshagiri, a farmer from Uttara Kannada, said that he was shocked to see that UAS-Dharwad had withdrawn the admission notification. “We had filled the form and were readying all our documents to submit to the university, only to find out that the notification has been withdrawn. We are feeling helpless,’‘ he said.
To woo youngsters
Farmers’ organisations have also opposed the State government’s move. H.R. Basavarajappa, president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, said that the diploma course was necessary to encourage the youth to get back into agriculture.
“Every student cannot join BSc Agriculture. The government should retain the course in the interest of farmers’ families and the agriculture sector,” he said.,
Similarly, H.R. Naveen Kumar, president of the Hassan district unit of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, said the agriculture sector had been in crisis and agricultural families looked for courses that helped their children get jobs and also remain connected to the field.
“The diploma course was fulfilling the needs of the agricultural families. The government should not stop the course, instead, it should support universities to launch a few such courses,” he said.
Different reasons cited
University officials have different explanations. Senior officials from two universities said that they were constrained to stop the diplomas as they were running them out of their own finances, without any government support.
“When we started these courses, the State government assured us of all help, and even promised to pay stipends to students. Forget stipends, the government is not paying the salaries of teachers and staff. We have no money to build infrastructure like classrooms, laboratories or experimental farms,’‘ said a senior officer in UAS Dharwad.
However, another officer from another university said that they were asked by the State government to stop admissions. “We got a letter on June 19, saying that these diplomas were in contravention of the spirit of NEP. The letter quotes a meeting held by former Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil on June 18, 2022, in which the universities were asked to stop the courses.”
Meeting to be convened
N. Cheluvarayaswamy, Agriculture Minister who is the Pro Chancellor of agriculture universities, said that the issue has come to his attention and that he would soon call a meeting of officials to discuss the issue.
“I believe that it is a good idea to continue the courses, so that the rural poor will be benefited,” he said.
