The lawmakers in the Legislative Assembly on Friday questioned the contribution of Jammu and Kashmir’s two agriculture universities towards the primary sector and said SKUASTs have failed to come up to the expectations of the people associated with the agriculture.
The members of the Legislative Assembly were speaking during the discussion on grants for agriculture department.
“Government is only doing extension of the universities but there has been no contribution of these universities in agriculture sector,” senior NC leader and MLA Kangan Mian Altaf told the House.
He said Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology in Jammu and Kashmir divisions should have come up to the expectations of the people, particularly farmers.
“Besides, government is not creating awareness among the farmers regarding cultivation of crops and other vegetables,” he said.
Mian Altaf accused the government of neglecting the agricultural department in fund allocation during the current budget session.
“The irony with the department is that besides meager allocation in budget the department has also failed to utilize the funds released under various centrally sponsored schemes,” he said.
NC leader and MLA Eid Gah Mubarak Gul said the government should run the department with modern and scientific method.
“We have experts in SKUAST in Jammu and Kashmir regions but their research has remained confined to the campuses and is not implemented in the field,” he said.