Should one read Agril Engineering?

 Now a days there is top competition in this profession & availability of job is very few.The state Governments are not adopting Batch Clearance formula rather selection is being done by Public Service Commission conducting written examination & viva.Generally these Engineers are getting more jobs under Agriculture Department.In other departments like Water Resources,Renewable Energy,Dairy, Panchayatiraj,Rural Development etc it is difficult for Agricultural Engineers to compete with Civil/Mechanical/ Electrical Engineers & get a job.Even in most the states Agricultural Engineers are not allowed to compete with Civil/Mechanical/Electrical Engineers for the posts.For example in Odisha, once the Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation,Directorate of Ground Water Development were run by Agricultural Engineers but after their retirement these posts are being filled up by Civil Engineers of Irrigation Department on deployment.Similarly once  the dairy industry in Odisha, Orissa State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Limited( omfed) was run by six Agricultural Engineers but presently, there is no single Agricultural Engineer in omfed .In WALMI,Odisha, there were three Agricultural Engineers but after retirement of the last engineer most likely WALMI may not recruit Agricultural Engineers.In Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency(OREDA), once there were around 15 Agricultural Engineers but now there is only one & after his retirement Agricultural Engineers may not be recruited in OREDA.Once around 30 Agricultural Engineers were working in Panchayatiraj Department of Odisha but henceforth they have decided to recruit Civil Engineers only.So employment situation of Agricultural Engineers are reducing day by day instead of increasing where as Private Engineering Universities/ Colleges are opening Agricultural Engineering branches in their Universities/ Colleges.Now the no of Agricultural Engineers passing in an year is more than the demand in the country & society. So unemployment is a problem for these Engineers in all the states. Those who excel in academics & selected in examination conducted by Public Service Commission,Agriculture Universities,ICAR are getting jobs.Others are remaining unemployed & choose other profession,business, enterprise for a living.

Like Agriculture, Veterinary,Fishery this profession has not a separate Directorate in many states.Though ICAR time & again has reminded State Governments to open separate Directorate for this Engineering branch or Create Chief Engineer posts heading this profession in all states, hardly State Governments have responded to it.Only in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh & Chatisgarh there are separate Directorates.In Odisha there are two Chief Engineers one for CAD wing under Water Resources Department & other for Agriculture Department.On 1st June 2017 Odisha made it's restructuring of Agricultural Engineering cadre in the state.We all know Punjab & Haryana are two states advanced in farm mechanization. Production & productivity are highest in these states.Similarly due to shortage of water Maharashtra is an advance state in drip, sprinkler,rain gun,fogger etc i.e. in micro irrigation & the state earn highest in Sugarcane cultivation,viticulture & floriculture.Even this state export flowers & grapes.But it is regrettable that these states do not have a separate Directorate in Agricultural Engineering. In Maharashtra there are highest nos of Agricultural Engineering colleges i.e.17 in numbers.

Mason Vaugh was an American agriculturalist who developed the first agricultural engineering department outside North America in 1921 at Allahabad Agricultural Institute.So as on today this profession completes 100 years in India but still it is an unknown & new subject for our policy makers.Whenever u meet them they question what u can deliver? Are u at par with other Engineers? That is the reason this profession does not have separate identity  means separate Directorates in all states.The Engineers can not function independently rather they work under someone.As this profession doesn't have separate identity, it is not a flourishing Profession around the world.Students who will choose this profession have to toil hard, struggle enough during their life time for a respectable existence.  

I give one example how Agricultural Engineers are humiliated/ harassed in this country.This year in 2021,in India we are celebrating the centenary of Agricultural Engineering Profession.But the sad truth is this Profession after completion of 100 years in India unknown to many IAS officers who are policy makers of the country.Listen the plight of Er Sabah Parveze, a Lady Agricultural Engineer of Jammu & Kashmir who was not allowed to appear examination for the post of Asst Prof Water Management even having a M.Tech degree in Hydrology from IIT,Roorkee & her M-Tech dissertation at IIT Roorkee was declared as the best in environmental engineering for the session 2015-2016.The Bureaucrats declare the lady Agricultural Engineer cum IIT’ian ineligible for Asst. Prof’s post in Water Management. They said that the Master's degree in Hydrology (M-Tech) is not equivalent to the prescribed qualification of Masters in Water Management. They fixed the quantum of equivalence as 20% to M-Tech Hydrology and 85% to MSc Environmental Science.So environmental scientists were selected for the post of Asst Prof Water Management where as the bright Agricultural Engineer with a M.Tech degree in Hydrology from IIT,Roorkee was disqualified for the post.