COMMITTEE FOR RESTRUCTURING OF ICAR
The Center has set up a Committee to review the administrative
structure of the Indian Council Of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
and its administrative and financial linkages with agricultural
universities and institutions in the country in order to streamline
this apex body in view of the emerging challenges to the Indian
agriculture and agricultural research in the country. Shri Hemendra
Kumar, Special Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and
Cooperation, will head the six-member Committee. The other members
of the Committee are:
1.Dr. M.Mahadevappa, Former Chairman, Agricultural
Scientists Recruitment Board
2.Shri Pratyush Sinha, Additional Secretary and Financial
Advisor, Dept. of Agricultural Research and Education
3.Dr. O.P. Agarwal, Head, RPBD, Council of Scientific
and Industrial Research
4.Prof. K. Mamkootam, Dept. of Management Studies,
Delhi University
5. Shri K.N. Kumar, Director, Dept. of Agricultural
Research and Education-Member Secretary
The terms of reference of the Committee would be:
i) To suggest an appropriate and right-sized administrative
structure for ICAR at the headquarters and its various institutes
with the objective of establishing a more effective, precise and
dynamic system of administration and management.
ii) To examine and suggest optimal ways of exercising
administrative control and scientific monitoring of institutions
by the Department from the perspective of integrated functioning.
iii) To examine the linkage between the ICAR and
State Agricultural Universities to make them financially viable
and self-sufficient and to suggest an effective way of providing
financial grant from ICAR to the Universities.
iv) To suggest how Human Resource in the ICAR system
can be developed to meet the growing challenges and how to use
the available professional expertise in and outside ICAR systems
for more practical, farmer-oriented and demand-driven research
as per the expectations of the Indian farmers.
The Committee has been asked to submit its report
to the Union Agriculture Minister, Shri Ajit Singh within two
months.
Although there has been some studies of the ICAR
structure in the past, it was felt that there is a need to have
a re-look at the system to ascertain whether it is efficiently
equipped to respond to the growing challenges of the demands placed
on it by the Indian farmers / agriculture, government’s policy
regarding growth of agriculture, WTO and also the current emphasis
of the Government on right- sizing.