Ludhiana: PAU students seek filling of vacant posts in agri dept

Ever since the protest started on September 26, they have met the governor, cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats, but their demands haven’t been met so far

The sit-in protest of the Agricultural Students’ Union at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) demanding recruitment to the vacant posts in the agriculture department and related bodies entered 52nd day on Friday.

The students are demanding immediate recruitment to the vacant posts in the agriculture department, Mandi Board, horticulture department, Markfed, Punjab Seed Corporation, and other related departments, and the creation of a post for agricultural teachers. (HT File)

Ever since the protest started on September 26, they have met the governor, cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats, but their demands haven’t been met so far. The students are demanding immediate recruitment to the vacant posts in the agriculture department, Mandi Board, horticulture department, Markfed, Punjab Seed Corporation, and other related departments, and the creation of a post for agricultural teachers.

Angrej Mann, a member of the union, said, “CM Mann had promised that he would appoint agriculture students as agriculture teachers to guide farmers. This was supposed to help the students with employment and also ensure that the farmers received the required scientific guidance. But there has been no deliberation on making any such post since he took over as the chief minister.”

Angrej said that 380 out of 934 posts of agriculture development officer, 315 out of 725 posts of agriculture sub inspector, 105 out of 115 posts of market secretary, 139 out of 225 posts of horticulture development officer, 18 out of 23 posts of district mandi officer, and 130 out of 226 posts of soil conservation officer are lying vacant in various departments.

Angrej said,” During a meeting with the agricultural secretary Arshdeep Singh Thind on November 10, the secretary said that he will look into the matter and ask the agriculture department about the status of the posts.”

This is not the first time the students have staged a sit-in to demand recruitment. The union had staged a sit-in for 10 odd days last year as well. They had called off the sit-in on the eve of the Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar’s scheduled visit to the varsity on November 12. They were asked to call off the protest and were assured a meeting with the CM and the minister of agriculture, education, and finance. The meeting, after a prolonged delay, took place a few months later, but nothing came out of it. The meeting only had the finance minister, Harpal Cheema.