Coimbatore, Nov. 22
With the T. Ramaswami committee on Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) expected to submit its recommendations on November 27, it has come to light that the Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI) at Veerakeralam in Coimbatore might be merged with the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research Institute, Lucknow, with the latter becoming the headquarters for sugarcane research.
The Coimbatore Institute is well known and has close proximity to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, both in terms of functioning as well as location. The supposed merger is seen as one of the proposed recommendations of the T. Ramaswami committee.
A High Power Committee was constituted on February 13, 2017, under the chairmanship of Dr. T. Ramaswami, former Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, to review the functioning of the ICAR. Various committees have been formed over the past decades towards strengthening the organisation. But the findings of this committee gains significance as it was constituted for a different purpose.
The move to scale down / merge the institutes of the ICAR comes on the heels of the Government’s decision to do the same with a third of the Government-funded autonomous bodies as an exercise of “overhauling these bodies to cut wasteful spending”.
SBI, founded in 1912, has been involved in evolving superior varieties of sugarcane suitable for various agro-climatic zones in India. It became a part of the ICAR in 1969.
With its 102 research institutes, 11 Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes and 73 agricultural universities, ICAR, an autonomous body, serves the information and technology needs associated with agriculture, and the agricultural research requirements of the country.
The news, though not official even to scientists at the Institute, has however caused “anxiety among the scientific staff”, pointed out Ravindra Naik, Secretary of the Coimbatore Unit of the Agricultural Research Service Scientists’ Forum (ARSSF).
The national Forum, of which all scientific staff of the Institute are members, has come out with a representation to be submitted to various State and Central Government officials. Its demand is : “The present move to merge this 105-year old globally renowned Institute possessing such glorious history with the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research Institute, Lucknow, of later origin, will lead to the loss of distinct identity of the Sugarcane Breeding Institute, and is against natural justice. In the event of the merger, the latter should be accorded the status of headquarters”.
The other two causalties from the State are said to be the Chennai Fisheries Institute that is proposed to be shifted to Kerala, and the banana institute in Tiruchirapalli that is proposed to be shifted to Bengaluru.
A review of 679 autonomous bodies under seven ministries / departments that involve an expenditure of Rs. 70,000 crore per annum is under way. While a large number of these bodies contribute in good measure to nation building, it is said that several have outlived their utility and become a drain on the exchequer.
The government is looking at three ways to manage this - merge, corporatize, shut down.
It may be noted that the institute has been responsible for introducing the most number of varieties that have contributed to more than 90 per cent of the total sugarcane cultivation in India. It has a rich history and has “accumulated assiduously a vast collection of germplasm, the only one of its kind in the entire world over its 105 year existence. Using this precious resource, the Institute has developed many high yielding and high sugar varieties with the prefix “Co” denoting Coimbatore”, the representation added.
The Institute can be credited for taking sugar production from 1.1 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 25.5 million tonnes in 2015-16.
Another organisation that has been in the news in recent times for the same “review” reason is the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Anaikatti, also near Coimbatore.
With the T. Ramaswami committee on Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) expected to submit its recommendations on November 27, it has come to light that the Sugarcane Breeding Institute (SBI) at Veerakeralam in Coimbatore might be merged with the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research Institute, Lucknow, with the latter becoming the headquarters for sugarcane research.
The Coimbatore Institute is well known and has close proximity to the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, both in terms of functioning as well as location. The supposed merger is seen as one of the proposed recommendations of the T. Ramaswami committee.
A High Power Committee was constituted on February 13, 2017, under the chairmanship of Dr. T. Ramaswami, former Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, to review the functioning of the ICAR. Various committees have been formed over the past decades towards strengthening the organisation. But the findings of this committee gains significance as it was constituted for a different purpose.
The move to scale down / merge the institutes of the ICAR comes on the heels of the Government’s decision to do the same with a third of the Government-funded autonomous bodies as an exercise of “overhauling these bodies to cut wasteful spending”.
SBI, founded in 1912, has been involved in evolving superior varieties of sugarcane suitable for various agro-climatic zones in India. It became a part of the ICAR in 1969.
With its 102 research institutes, 11 Agricultural Technology Application Research Institutes and 73 agricultural universities, ICAR, an autonomous body, serves the information and technology needs associated with agriculture, and the agricultural research requirements of the country.
The news, though not official even to scientists at the Institute, has however caused “anxiety among the scientific staff”, pointed out Ravindra Naik, Secretary of the Coimbatore Unit of the Agricultural Research Service Scientists’ Forum (ARSSF).
The national Forum, of which all scientific staff of the Institute are members, has come out with a representation to be submitted to various State and Central Government officials. Its demand is : “The present move to merge this 105-year old globally renowned Institute possessing such glorious history with the Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research Institute, Lucknow, of later origin, will lead to the loss of distinct identity of the Sugarcane Breeding Institute, and is against natural justice. In the event of the merger, the latter should be accorded the status of headquarters”.
The other two causalties from the State are said to be the Chennai Fisheries Institute that is proposed to be shifted to Kerala, and the banana institute in Tiruchirapalli that is proposed to be shifted to Bengaluru.
A review of 679 autonomous bodies under seven ministries / departments that involve an expenditure of Rs. 70,000 crore per annum is under way. While a large number of these bodies contribute in good measure to nation building, it is said that several have outlived their utility and become a drain on the exchequer.
The government is looking at three ways to manage this - merge, corporatize, shut down.
It may be noted that the institute has been responsible for introducing the most number of varieties that have contributed to more than 90 per cent of the total sugarcane cultivation in India. It has a rich history and has “accumulated assiduously a vast collection of germplasm, the only one of its kind in the entire world over its 105 year existence. Using this precious resource, the Institute has developed many high yielding and high sugar varieties with the prefix “Co” denoting Coimbatore”, the representation added.
The Institute can be credited for taking sugar production from 1.1 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 25.5 million tonnes in 2015-16.
Another organisation that has been in the news in recent times for the same “review” reason is the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Anaikatti, also near Coimbatore.