A growing number of students, primarily from India’s northern states, are raising alarms after being denied admission to B.Sc. Agriculture programs. These students, who focused on Agriculture, Biology, and Chemistry during their higher secondary education, are facing unexpected barriers at over 27 Central and State universities, despite often clearing the Common University Entrance Test (CUET).
Their pleas have not gone unheard. Lawmakers and parents are actively supporting these students, highlighting a critical flaw in current admission policies. Many universities are imposing strict prerequisites, mandating that only students with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics (PCM) or Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (PCB) backgrounds are eligible for B.Sc. Agriculture courses. This exclusion has sparked widespread concern.
In response to mounting complaints, ICAR Director-General Mangi Lal Jat organized a virtual meeting with university Vice-Chancellors. This intervention has already yielded positive results, with several institutions agreeing to re-evaluate their admission norms. ICAR, alongside the National Testing Agency, plays a pivotal role in facilitating admissions to approximately 60 agricultural universities, managing a 20% quota for CUET-qualified students.
Students and their advocates, including Rajasthan MLAs Ravindra Singh Bhati and Manish Yadav, have directly communicated their grievances to Dr. Jat and UGC Chairman Vineet Joshi. They emphasized that these exclusionary guidelines, implemented since the last academic year, are causing undue hardship, with an estimated 10,000 students from Rajasthan alone facing potential academic disruption.
Dr. Jat affirmed that while ICAR acts primarily as a facilitator—with universities operating under State governments where education is a State subject—the situation is far from ideal. He expressed his commitment to resolving the issue, stating, “It is not a good thing that students who studied agriculture in schools are not able to enrol in B.Sc. agriculture courses.” He also revealed that many State agricultural universities already accommodate agriculture students, and encouragingly, seven more institutions have committed to enrolling school-level agriculture students based on their entrance examination results. Dr. Jat reiterated his dedication to safeguarding the interests of both the agriculture sector and its future students, indicating ongoing discussions with other universities to find a comprehensive solution.