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Weak on content

Weak on content the Hemendra Kumar committee was set up in August 2002 by Union agriculture minister Ajit Singh to restore the Indian Council of Agricultural Research's (icar) lost "sense of purpose'. Unfortunately, the recent report submitted by the six-member panel appears to be anything but a roadmap for course correction. The document on restructuring icar has come in for severe criticism for the "bloomers' it contains and cosmetic changes it has recommended. The panel comprised of three bureaucrats, two technocrat and a management expert.

The steps suggested by the committee include the creation of five new regional offices necessitating the transfer of several technocrats at various levels, limiting the number of deputy directors general (ddgs) in the headquarters to four and induction of more administrative officers into the institution.

A noted agricultural scientist sounds a sceptical note: "I do not understand the purpose of constituting such a committee. If the idea is to rejuvenate the Indian agricultural research system, its recommendations lack any such direction. If it is to cut the flab in the system, it will end up achieving just the opposite.' The panel calls for a merger of the finance and administration cadres in the icar . It also wants the non-scientific staff to be considered for foreign assignments with international organisations to make them "feel a part of it'.

The report recommends that subject matter divisions such as crop science, animal science, agricultural extension, agricultural engineering, fisheries, "natural research (sic) management', horticulture and education should be revamped. In fact, it suggests that the number of categories should be brought down to four

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