[ Bengia Ajum ]
ITANAGAR, 22 Aug: In a major setback for plans to establish Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) in Kurung Kumey and Dibang Valley districts, the land donors have decided to withdraw the consent given for the establishment of the KVKs on their private properties.
The land donors alleged that the state government has failed to keep the promises made at the time of donation of land.
In a letter to the State Horticulture Research & Development Institute (SHRDI), which is the host institute for the establishment of the two KVKs, the land donors of both the districts expressed bitterness over the failure to keep the promises that had been made to them in lieu of donating land.
“We agreed to donate our prime cultivable land for establishment of the KVKs in our districts after an assurance from the SHRDI that lower level posts would be given to the qualified members of the land donors’ families in lieu of monetary compensation. But to our surprise, the agriculture department has issued the job advertisement in place of the SHRDI, and it has not kept any reservation for land donors.
“In spite of our several representations to the authorities of the agriculture department, we are not getting any positive reply,” the land donors alleged.
They added that, “instead of respecting the agreement made between the land donors and the SHRDI, the agriculture department issued advertisements for all the posts of these two KVKs.”
“Our agreement for the establishment of the KVKs was made with the SHRDI. It had agreed to keep reservation for us in lower level posts, based on qualification. However, now we are noticing that the job recruitment process has been hijacked by the agriculture department, which was never in the picture during the entire process until now. It is creating a serious doubt in our minds whether the referred KVKs are under the SHRDI or under the agriculture department,” they added.
The land donors also raised serious concern over the intention of the agriculture department, and questioned whether the establishment of the KVKs in their districts is really meant for the welfare of the farming community or is just meant to recruit people into government jobs.
“In this situation, we cannot sacrifice our land for the establishment of the KVKs when the land donors are neither given monetary compensation nor any jobs. Therefore, we have decided to take back our land. We may reconsider our decision if the reservations in lower grade posts are given to qualified candidates of land donor families in future,” the land donors said.
The agriculture department is conducting a walk-in interview for recruitment to Groups A, B and C posts for various KVKs in the state, including the ones in Kurung Kumey and Dibang Valley, starting from 25 August onwards.
“This recruitment process should not go ahead until our issue is resolved. The agriculture department, which is now carrying out the recruitment process, is disrespecting us and we are deeply hurt. We appeal to Chief Minister Pema Khandu to look into this pressing issue,” the land donors said.
For the establishment of the KVKs in the two districts, the SHRDI had signed an MoU with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, which is the funding agency. The two institutes have not started functioning yet as infrastructure have not been established for the KVKs. It was only in April this year that the government sanctioned funds for the establishment of infrastructure.
KVKs are established in every district of the country with the motive of strengthening the rural farmers with new farming technologies.
