Agri technocrats wear black badges in protest

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 5

On the call of the Agriculture Technocrats Action Committee, agricultural technocrats staged a protest by wearing black badges here today.

Led by committee General Secretary Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, they announced to wear black badges at work till their demands are met. An announcement of a complete pen- down strike on May 20 and 21 was also made.

“In the absence of regular departmental promotions for long, there is a wave of resentment among agriculture officers as there are a large number of vacancies at various levels in the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department. These vacant posts in the department are affecting agricultural extension services to the farmers,” said Sandhu.

At present, only two out of nine officers are working in the Joint Director cadre and only 19 out of 53 are working in the Deputy Director cadre. Out of 934 posts of Agriculture Development Officers and 233 posts of Block Agriculture Officers, more than half of the posts are vacant.

“As many as 141 Agriculture Development Officers (ADOs), who were selected after rigorous examination, are awaiting their appointment letters even after completion of their recruitment process. We demand immediate appointment of these officers and they should be paid according to the salary scale mentioned in the advertisement,” added Sandhu.