The horticulture graduates at the SKUAST Kashmir continued their protest for the third consecutive day on Wednesday demanding re-advertising of certain posts and reframing of the eligibility criteria.
The three-day protest has disturbed the routine class work at the Shalimar campus of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.
The protesting students have locked the entry and exit gates of the Shalimar campus vowing to continue their protest till the university administration and the government address their grievance.
The protesting students accused the government of ruining their career. “It is strange that one-year diploma holders (BHT) are eligible for Horticulture Technician-1V posts whereas the professional degree holders (B. Sc. Horticulture graduates) are not,” they said.
They said that in the in the recently advertised posts of Canning Instructor, both the degree and diploma in Food Processing or Fruit Preservation has been set as eligibility criteria, however in case of Horticulture Technician-IV, only the diploma holders have been made eligible.
The protesting graduates complained that there had been no progress in the 2018 Rehbar-e-Baghbani scheme. “Despite holding master’s and doctorate degrees in horticulture sciences all of us are jobless. Not a single post has been advertised for the degree holders,” the protesting students said.
Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-Kashmir Prof Mushtaq Ahmad said the job of university was to produce human resource for serving in various government departments. “We provide them with a degree and make them eligible to get employment. Our job is not to frame recruitment policies. The government has to take a decision on this,” he said, adding that they have written to the government a number of times about the matter. “But it takes time to finalise policy decisions,” he said.