Agri graduates’ recruitment: Overnight solution not possible, says Javid Dar

Srinagar, Oct 2: Agriculture Minister Javid Ahmad Dar on Friday said the government was working to resolve the long-pending recruitment concerns of agriculture graduates, but an immediate solution was not possible due to litigation involving various categories of posts.
The Minister said that the issue had been pending for years and the government had been working on it for the past several months. He said groups involved in litigation had also been taken on board as part of the efforts to find a resolution.
“Litigation is the main reason. We have been working on this for the last several months and are achieving success somehow,” Dar said.
Responding to queries over his reported remarks to agriculture graduates to take cricket kits for the time being, the Minister said his statement had been misunderstood. “What I said to their representatives has been taken wrongly. A government representative always knows what he speaks, as he is the responsible person,” he said.
The Minister said the government could not make commitments on matters that were not immediately feasible and that the recruitment issue required due process. “We cannot make statements which are not possible at all. Every process takes time. I told them it is a 10 to 20-year-old issue and an overnight solution is not possible,” he said.
Pertinently, the Agriculture graduates have been protesting, demanding reforms in the recruitment framework, regular recruitment drives, filling of vacant posts and a predictable recruitment calendar.
The protesters have also sought a review of SRO-442 of 2017, which changed the recruitment structure for Junior Agriculture Extension Officer posts by making them promotional. (KNO)