Hyderabad: Students of Agriculture Diploma courses from Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University have demanded a 30 percent increase in the seats of BSc Agriculture. Currently, only 40 seats of BSc Agriculture are reserved for diploma holders. Students are agitated as around 2000 diploma holders and aspirants of BSc Agriculture appeared for the entrance test on Sun-day, but they would be able to vie for only 40 available seats.
Students also demanded that diploma should be made equivalent to intermediate for better career opportunities and higher studies as there are fewer opportunities available for diploma holders.
Students allege that when Andhra Pradesh government has made Diploma in Agricultural courses equivalent to intermediate, why couldn’t Telangana government follow suit and adhere to the same rules in the state as this would provide better opportunities for diploma holders.
Rakesh Siripuram a diploma holder from Agricultural University said, “The university provides various courses like Diploma in Seed Technology, Diploma in Agricultural Engineering and Diploma in Engineering for diploma aspirants. After pursuing these diploma courses, either we should go ahead for higher studies with BSc Agric-ulture or look for a job. There are very few opportunities available for diploma holders. One can apply for a government job for the post of Agriculture Extension Officer but every aspirant cannot be expected to qualify for this. We need to go in for higher studies to access better and more jobs.”
He adds, “Most diploma holders prefer to go for higher studies as the university only provides 40 seats for BSc Agriculture for diploma holders. It becomes difficult for thousands of diploma holders to compete for these 40 seats so we request the government to provide enough seats to accommodate more number of aspirants so that we also get good employment opportunities after the completion of our course.”
Giridhar Durshetty, ano-ther diploma holder from Agricultural University said, “We are not able to continue with a degree course as our diploma is not equivalent to intermediate so we request the government to consider our problems. Our diploma should be made equivalent to intermediate so that we can do graduation in agricultural courses which are only reserved for those aspirants who have an intermediate qualification. There are only 10 per cent of seats to diploma holders for pursuing BSc courses. This is giving us a tough time.”
