External funds for research in ICAR institutes remain unutilised

Hyderabad: The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has asked several agricultural research institutes affiliated to it to furnish details of the externally funded research projects taken up by them.

According to the sources, an ICAR circular said the funds remitted to 32 externally funded projects by the sponsored agencies from different countries remained lying in various banks since the financial year 2014-15.

Speaking to The Hans India, a senior official from the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University (PJTSAU) said the circular said the external funds received for the projects in the ICAR affiliated institutions were not available with the council.

Since details of the funds received in Council's non-plan account from various international sponsoring agencies for the projects being taken up by the ICAR units and universities wre not known.

"The Council has asked the heads of the ICAR institutes, research centres, project directors to send their request for the grants, whichever pertains to them in a prescribed performa," the official said.

Funds remitted by the International Crops Research Institute through the City Bank, Singapore, remained unutilised.

Similarly, funds remitted by other external agencies like IAEA, Wargamers Trasse remitted to State Bank of India, Frankfurt, Germany, funds remitted by CIDM, Huston, at SBI, New York were also not yet released to the institutions concerned due to lack of details of the project implementing institutions, the sources said.

The Council reportedly did not have details of the pending foreign currency amounts for the 2018-19 financial year meant for 18 externally funded research projects.