Amended Act hurdle to Agriculture University
From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: Despite the bravado of Meghalaya Agriculture Minister Banteidor Lyngdoh that Central Agriculture University (CAU) will be set up in Meghalaya, the Centre made it clear that state has to remain satisfied with only a college.
Replying to a question by Shillong MP Vincent Pala in Parliament, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar said decades ago, the Centre had amended the Act so that the CAU will continue to be in Imphal and Meghalaya will have a college.
The act governing the CAU (Imphal) was amended, therefore fulfilling the requirement of only a separate college in Meghalaya.
At the same time, the minister admitted that initially there was a proposal to set up the University at Barapani (Umiam) to cater to the states of Meghalaya and Nagaland. This was on the basis of “in principle “approval obtained from the Planning Commission in 2009, the minister said.
But subsequently, the act was amended fulfilling the requirements, the minister said. The minister’s clear reply virtually puts an end to the claim of the state government that the NDA government had agreed for a full-fledged university in the state.
The Meghalaya agriculture minister claimed that a delegation moved the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Agriculture minister, who had assured for the university and not just a college for which the state had also allotted 200 acres of land.
Pala wanted the details of the present status of the Agriculture University in Meghalaya. He also wanted to know the number of students studying the in college to which the Minister replied that in 2017-18 and 2018-19, 36 students (18 each year) were enrolled.
Earlier, Rajya Sabha member Wansuk Syiem had also raised the mater in Upper House and demanded immediate intervention from the Centre.
Wansuk demanded that the Centre must establish an independent and full-fledged autonomous CAU in Meghalaya as per its own commitment.
The minister is yet to reply to the special mention of Wansuk.
The Central Agricultural University, Imphal was established by an act of Parliament, the Central Agricultural University Act, 1992. The jurisdiction of the university extends to seven North-Eastern Hill states: Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland and Tripura.
The mission of the University is to train post graduate students of agriculture from the North Eastern hill states.
It is expected that these students would eventually become the torch bearers for enhancing the agricultural growth and livelihood support for the farming and rural community as a whole in the region.
