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In Context
- Recently, the Kerala High Court set aside the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS).
More about the News
- The court as listed two specific violations for not accepting the appointment:
- The search committee recommended a single name and not a panel of three names; and
- In the search committee, the State government included the Director-General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) instead of a nominee of the UGC.
- Issue:
- Breaking the equilibrium:
- Over the past five decades, the ICAR was successful in facilitating agricultural education as a national expert body and without overstepping into the constitutional jurisdiction of the State governments.
- The Kerala High Court’s judgment threatens to disrupt this delicate equilibrium maintained over the past five decades.
- Jeopardising the uniformity in agricultural education:
- The judgment also threatens to jeopardise the ICAR’s ongoing efforts to ensure a minimum level of uniformity in agricultural education in the country, including in the appointment of Vice-Chancellors.
- Substituting the role of the ICAR:
- ICAR’s Model Act stipulates the constitution of the search committee for Vice-Chancellors with three members:
- The Director-General of ICAR;
- One nominee of the government; and
- One nominee of the Chancellor.
- But the Kerala High Court judgment has made the presence of an ICAR representative invalid and necessitates its replacement with a UGC representative.
- Essentially, the court has sought to substitute the role of the ICAR with the UGC’s regulations.
- What is at stake is not just the spirit of federalism but also the unique status conferred to agricultural education by the Constitution.
- ICAR’s Model Act stipulates the constitution of the search committee for Vice-Chancellors with three members:
- Breaking the equilibrium:
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
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Evolution of agricultural education in India
- Opinions of constituent assembly:
- Few members in the constituent assembly suggested that the Union government must play a central role in agriculture.
- But, T.T. Krishnamachari suggested that “beyond taking certain powers for the purpose of co-ordination, Centre is not capable of handling this vast problem [of agriculture]”.
- Agricultural Education as a part of State List:
- Thus, agriculture was included in the List II (State List) in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.
- More importantly, agricultural education was detached from the other streams of higher education and attached to the occupied field of agriculture in List II.
- Education was included in List III (Concurrent List).
- Implications of the move:
- The legal implication of the exclusion of agricultural education from Concurrent List is that agricultural universities have historically been facilitated by the ICAR.
- DARE:
- After independence, the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) was set up in 1973 in the Ministry of Agriculture.
- The major functions of DARE were to facilitate agricultural research and education, coordinate between the Centre and the States, and attend to matters related to the ICAR.
- Yashpal Committee recommendations:
- The committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (Yashpal Committee, 2009) has recommended setting up of a constitutional body – the National Commission for Higher Education and Research.
- It would be a unified supreme body to regulate all branches of higher education including agricultural education.
- Presently, regulation of agricultural education is the mandate of
- ICAR,
- Veterinary Council of India (Veterinary sub-discipline) and
- Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (Forestry sub-discipline).
- The committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (Yashpal Committee, 2009) has recommended setting up of a constitutional body – the National Commission for Higher Education and Research.
University Grants Commission (UGC)
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Source: TH
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