CORP seek union minister’s intervention into delay to set up CAU in Meghalaya

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaFebruary 19, 2020

SHILLONG: The Confederation of Ri Bhoi People (CORP) on Wednesday sought the intervention of the Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare P Rupala into the delay in setting up of the Central Agriculture University (CAU) in the state.

In a memorandum submitted to the minister during his visit to ICAR, Umiam, the CORP said the CAU in Meghalaya was approved by the Centre (in 2013) for the development of the agricultural sector of the region and to render benefits to the local community.

However, it said instead of the proposed Central Agricultural University in Meghalaya, a sub-campus – College of Agriculture, Kyrdemkulai, Meghalaya under the Central Agricultural University, Imphal has been established since 2014.

It further said if such an institute exists in Meghalaya, the state as a whole will benefit immensely from its presence adding there will be a greater number of students who will be able to opt for agriculture and allied studies thereby building the state’s future.

The CAU was established in the year 1992 as a centre of teaching, research and extension in the field of agriculture and allied sectors and presently, the University has 13 campuses across the eight states of North Eastern region which includes the College of Home Science, Tura and the College of Post-Graduate Studies, Umiam.

CORP president Bandari Ryntathiang however said the slow pace at which this establishment is set up has put many agriculturists in a dilemma as all these colleges are still under the control of CAU, Imphal.

“But, we are hoping for a better future and we have full confidence that our elected representatives will be able to make this long overdue dream into a reality soon, within the next few years as only when we are united with a common goal will we be able to accomplish great things together as a state of Meghalaya,” he said.

On the other hand, Ryntathiang also brought to the notice of the minister on the recent recruitment announcement of Central Agriculture University based in Imphal, Manipur, having its’ sub campuses located in Meghalaya by the name of College of Post Graduate Studies, Umiam; College of Agriculture, Kyrdemkulai and College of Home Sciences, Tura and said in this recruitment there has been a bare minimum vacancy allotted to STs, who are the predominant population of Meghalaya.

He said from the total 155 vacancies announced only 8 seats (5%) are allotted to ST candidates out of which only 3 seats are given to Assistant Professor posts, which is the entry level post for a career in academia.

He added, the system as to how the vacancy are distributed and which institute will be filled, with how many seats is very much unclear and leave open the possibility that our state might not get any local qualified candidates.

“With such figures, we the ST candidates of the state have a grim hope of being able to be considered for these posts as even though 63 seats are categorized as Unreserved, it has been noticed in previous selections that such posts are filled by candidates from general category only, even when we ST candidates have the same academic standings as our general counterparts.

The main aim of an ST reservation is to provide an equal representation for weaker section of society so that we can be at par with the rest of the country.

However, this has been used against us and we are being marginalised and deprived of the right to get good opportunities in one of the country’s respected profession. Looking much deeper into this we will find that there has also been a lack of transparency with regards to the recruitment of non- teaching staff. At the College of Post-Graduate studies, Umiam, a maximum number of employees have been transferred from Imphal headquarters into various levels,” Ryntathiang said.

The CORP also urged the minister to take action on the matter and ensure better representation of STs in the CAU sub-campuses located in the state.