Students’ protests take root

As it happens, agriculture students in the state have been waiting and watching for a long time. For the past six years, farming graduates — numbering some 2000 across three colleges in the state — have been denied public sector employment, while the private sector, they claim, neither pays them enough nor offers any job security.

‘‘We all know it’s only the toppers who’ll find takers in the job market,’’ says a despondent Aman, an MSc student of Agronomy, Punjab Agricultural University. ‘‘That’s partly the reason why we are adding on the degrees,’’ adds classmate Mandeep.

Not everyone shares in PAU her optimism. Says Navtej Singh, convener of the Punjab Agricultural University Students’ Association, ‘‘There is no synchronisation in demand and supply. On one hand, the colleges will keep churning out graduates, on the other, they will not find employment. That is why the agriculture-centric state is losing its best farm experts.’’

Adds Gurbir Singh, an MSc student who’s planning to do his doctorate simply to defer job-hunting, ‘‘We know the government has its own problems and cannot absorb all of us. But even the private sector — which has been roped in by the government itself to do a rescue act — is exploiting our desperation. To employ someone with a Master’s degree, they’re paying only Rs 3,400.’’

‘‘I know my students are facing a bad situation,’’ admits PAU V-C K S Aulakh. ‘‘We have asked them to fill up the vacancies in the agriculture and horticulture departments, but nothing has happened till date. I also know the private sector in underpaying our graduates, but as an institution, there’s little we can do.’’

According to Kirpa Shankar Saroj, MD of the Punjab Agro-Foods Corporation and in-charge of contract farming in the state, private sector pays were low in comparison to fixed government scales. ‘‘But the scope for getting ahead is far better here. And so far as employment is concerned, our extension agencies like Mahindra Subhlabh, DCM Shriram Escorts are taking them on to strengthen their field staff.’’