NEW DELHI: India’s premier body to recruit farm scientists for top research and academic institutions, which is headed by eminent agriculture scientist , can now get serving or retired bureaucrat as its chief.

The agriculture ministry has notified a new rule, opening the post of chairperson of the Agriculture Scientists’ Recruitment Board ( ASRB ) for bureaucrats - a move which has long been resisted by farm scientists from across the country.

The new rule, notified on August 9, specifies that a retired or serving civil servant having experience of at least 25 years in “public administration or agriculture or related sectors” can become the ASRB’s chairperson for a period of three years or till attainment of 65 years of age, whichever is earlier.

Though the rule has kept option of agriculture scientists or academicians being considered for the top post in the ASRB open, it has expanded the eligibility criteria allowing serving or retired IAS officer to be considered as head of the Board.

Besides, the ministry has also restructured the Board, making it a four-member body, comprising of a chairperson and three members, and de-linked it from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

The ASRB has now been attached to the department of agricultural research & education (DARE) of the ministry. It was earlier used to be a three-member body including a chairperson.

The proposal to open the ASRB’s top post for bureaucrats was mooted in June. Resisting the proposal, top agriculture scientists had then even written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi , arguing that the Board which recruits farm scientists must be headed only by scientists - a practice which is being followed in all developed countries.

In his letter to the PM on June 27, president of the National Academy of Agricultural Science (NAAS) - a body of the country’s top agriculture scientists - Panjab Singh had noted that the move of inducting an IAS officer as the Board’s chairperson will “demoralize the entire scientific community”.

Referring to views of expert committee, he said, “Needless to say that no one could be a better choice than a scientist to head the Board for recruitment of scientists at various levels with different expertise for large number of ICAR institutes.”

A number of other eminent scientists including former ASRB chairman R B Singh and former professor at Indian Agriculture Research Institute Anupam Verma too had endorsed the NAAS president’s views.

