E-Paper
Agri ministry rejects charges of recruitment scam in farm body ICAR
ICAR rejects allegations of recruitment irregularities by member Badaravada, stating all appointments followed approved qualifications and procedures.
A governing body member of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the top research wing of the agriculture ministry, has alleged “escalating irregularities” in the organisation’s recruitments, which the premier agency on Monday rejected as factually incorrect and misleading.
Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the president of the ICAR.
Also Read: Bridge ‘lab to land’ gap, Shivraj Singh Chouhan tells ICAR scientists
In an official statement, the institution said it looked into the allegations and found no rule was tweaked in appointing either the new head of a research institute or research scientists, as alleged by governing body member Venugopal Badaravada.
Badaravada had written to the Prime Minister’s office and the farm minister on December 20, alleging recruitment criteria had been “deliberately altered to favour specific candidates, undermining fairness and merit” in the appointment of research management positions.
“A glaring example is the selection process for the Director of Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), where recruitment criteria were altered without the requisite approval of the governing body.” Badaravada sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“Such actions reflect a disturbing level of collusion and systemic failure, raising serious concerns about the legitimacy of the entire recruitment process,” he stated, demanding that all recruitment for research positions should be halted.
Rebutting the accusations, the farm research department said it found no merit in the allegations after a review. “All the recent recruitments have been done strictly as per the Model Qualifications duly approved by the Competent Authority,” it said.
“There is no change in Essential Qualifications (EQs) for the post of Director, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi since the EQs were revised previously and the previous Director of IARI, New Delhi (Dr. A. K. Singh) who superannuated in June 2024 was appointed in 2019 with same qualifications that have been advertised for current recruitment process,” the statement added.
The department of farm research, in its statement, also said that a “few disgruntled elements are unnecessarily spreading rumours to misguide a Governing Body (GB) member for their own vested interests”. Badaravada was not reachable for a comment, despite several attempts.
In his letter, Badaravada alleged that the new IARI director Chilumuri Srinivasa Rao’s appointment “lacked transparency” and governing body was not adequately consulted. “Moreover, most ex-officio members have abstained from participating in governing body meetings, further enabling unchecked irregularities,” the complaint stated.
A senior official of the department, requesting anonymity, said Srinivasa Rao was already serving as the director of the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), Hyderabad, when he was picked for the post of director at IARI.
“Established norms allow the relieving of an official while being on tour, since an employee on tour is considered to be on official duty. Therefore, Srinivasa Rao took over the charge of director, IARI, only after he was formally relieved from the post of director, NAARM. So there were no procedural lapses,” the officer said.
