According to the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) has a total of 3,705 vacancies in scientific and technical cadre positions.
The Agriculture Minister was responding to queries from the Lok Sabha about the number of vacancies at ICAR, the impact of the vacancies on research, and the steps being taken to fill the vacancies as soon as possible.
According to the minister, "There are 1394 vacant scientific cadre jobs in the ICAR, out of a total sanctioned strength of 6586. Similarly, in the technical cadre, 2311 positions are empty out of a total sanctioned strength of 6756."
The agriculture minister shared the data that shows there are 74 posts in Research Management. The Principal Scientist position, which leads or coordinates a research project, has 380 vacancies.
Scientist and Senior Scientist roles have a total of 569 and 371 vacancies, respectively.
The category 1 role has the most openings (1187) among the technical staff. This category has the most sanctioned roles (3699) among all technical staff positions.
The total number of vacancies in categories 2 and category 3 of technical positions is 866 and 258, respectively.
"The Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) or the Institute use a standardised procedure to fill openings in scientific and technical posts, and the vacancies are filled based on the availability of qualified individuals. The vacancy position is regularly monitored within ICAR and with ASRB in order to ensure prompt human resource selection and deployment," stated the minister.