NALGONDA: Agriculture Extension Officers (AEOs) have announced that they would launch an agitation to protest against the alleged increased workload and harassment by higher officials in the department. The decision comes after they were informed that the department was planning to suspend 170 AEOs for allegedly neglecting to conduct digital crop survey.
The AEOs accused the state authorities of not following the guidelines issued by the Union government regarding the crop survey. Citing guidelines, they said that they should do the survey with support from officials from other departments. “But, we are being asked to do the strenuous task all alone,” they alleged.
The Central government has brought the Digital Agri Mission scheme with the aim of creating Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the agriculture sector. As part of this, in the first phase, 12 states have been selected. The main purpose of the digital crop survey is to take pictures of every plot of land in those states along with latitude and longitude and make an online database of the crops.
“The Agriculture department has ordered the AEOs to conduct a digital survey in Telangana and download a mobile app to know the guidelines and targets. The survey will map the crops being cultivated in each area,” the statement said. It added that the AEOs are directed to take selfies and photos from a distance of 20 metres upon visiting the fields and identify irrigation sources there.
Work overload
Considering there are about 12,000 grama panchayats in the state, they have been divided into 2,604 clusters with one AEO appointed to each. The statement said with about 1.5 crore acres of agricultural land, each AEO has been ordered to conduct a digital survey of 5,000 acres.
Association leaders of AEOs told TNIE that it is extremely difficult to conduct a single survey. “Our appeal to the authorities to provide additional workforce did not yield any result. We are already burdened with 49 different tasks like conducting soil tests, awareness camps for farmers, farmer insurance, loans and others,” they lamented.
They also expressed dismay over having to walk in hilly areas every day for the survey. They said, “In some areas, we have to wait for long periods for the internet to upload pictures on the app. The state government has given us one SIM card with one GB internet limit which makes the survey more difficult.”
Central guidelines
As per the guidelines from the Central government, the officials have been advised to take support from villagers and staff from various departments including Revenue, Panchayat Raj, Horticulture, Sericulture, Animal husbandry and AEOs. It is reported that around 14-20 thousand local youths in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are assisting in the conduct of the digital crop survey. In Maharashtra, a private company has been assigned this role and in Andhra Pradesh, additional staff has been appointed for the purpose. However, in Telangana, each AEO has been tasked with survey of 5,000 acres