NEW DELHI: The government has constituted a high-level committee to restructure the 94-year-old Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to meet the objective of Amrit Kal. The Amrit Kal is referred as the period of the next 25 years to make India fulfill the aspiration of youths, self-reliance and economic stability.
Earlier, too, the government had tried to restructure ICAR. The government constituted the committees under Dr MS Swaminathan and Dr RA Mashlekar. However, their recommendation was never implemented. Recently, Dr K Ramasamy, a former Vice Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and member of ICAR-Academic Infrastructure, also recommended restructuring of ICAR. But no action has been taken so far.
The 11-member committee is constituted under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education and Secretary of ICAR. The committee, which was constituted on April 24 has members of administrative services like scientists, experts from NITI Ayog, representatives from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, and the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The committee will submit its report in 30 days.
Dr Neelam Patel, senior Advisor of NITI Ayog, and Dr PK Joshi, Agricultural Economist, are also on the committee.
“Priorities and global agricultural trade as been changed in the past few decades, and this new structure of ICAR is to be compatible to the vision of 2047 to meet emerging India’s aspiration,” says a committee member.
“ICAR-affiliated institutes helped India in achieving food self-sufficiency, and now the time has come to restructure in time of global reality. The government wants ICAR's research work to shift from grain-centric research to nutrition-centric research and help farmers in producing farmers for global requirements,” another member adds.