Private agriculture colleges opposed

Tirupati: The students of SV Agricultural College, who are on stir since a week, intensified their agitation to press the government for issuing orders to stop permitting private agriculture colleges in the State. 

The students including studying graduate and post graduate courses in the government SV Agricultural College here on Thursday took out a rally in support of their demands.

The students holding banners and placards seeking the government not to promote privatisation of agriculture education, raised slogans demanding filling up of all the vacant Agriculture Officer (AO) and Agriculture Extension Officer (AEO) posts in the government departments so as to provide jobs to unemployed agriculture graduates and post graduates from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) recognised government agriculture colleges in the State. 

It may be recalled that the students of state-run agriculture colleges under Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) in the state observed 42-day long agitation last year leading to the government agreeing to the students’ main demand and issued a GO number 79 ordering no more permission to set up private agriculture college in the State. 

But this year, in October, the government issued a one-time settlement memo allowing non-ICAR graduates in the Agriculture department stirring the students to take to the streets.  The students suspected that the memo will pave the way for the recruitment of non-ICAR graduates in the government posts hitting the interests graduates of government agriculture colleges i.e. ICAR recognized degree holders. 

The students made it clear that they would continue the stir till the government categorically come out in writing that there will be no more permission to private agriculture colleges and also recruitment of ICAR recognised agriculture degree holders.  

The students contend that that ANGRAU V-C Dr V Damodara Naidu, whom they met here on Wednesday evening assured to take their demands to government They decided to continue the stir as they did not get the assurance in writing.