Parliamentary Committee Discusses Nepal Agricultural Research Council Restructuring

Kathmandu. Discussion was held in the parliamentary committee regarding the restructuring of the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), improvement of service facilities, and making the agricultural research system effective. In the meeting of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee under the Federal Parliament held at Singhdarbar on Monday, problems, challenges, and solutions seen from the field monitoring of NARC's regional offices and research centers were debated. In the meeting, the issue of forming a separate 'Agricultural Research Service Commission' to stop political interference and disorganized staff recruitment in NARC and to advance NARC as an integrated research department was raised. Committee members expressed the view that restructuring is necessary to make NARC's work effective. Raswap MP Sujata Tamang suggested removing the duplication in research among NAST, NARC, and agricultural universities and taking it forward as a research department under one umbrella. Similarly, MP Gyanendra Singh Mahata said that research should be visible in the field rather than in paper reports, and NARC should be restructured comprehensively by including manpower, technology, and resources. He said, 'Modern technology and research that farmers can feel should be done. It shouldn't just be on paper; the committee should instruct the government regarding manpower, technology, and laws for that. But work must be done.' MP Basumaya Tamang said that agricultural entrepreneurs have to suffer due to the slowness of laboratories and the tendency of ministries to shirk responsibility, emphasizing the need to establish an international-level lab at NARC and remove the hassle seen in exporting herbs grown on private land. She questioned in the committee, 'Timur is grown on my own land, and when I go to sell it, I have to run to the CDO's office, forest office, ministry, and where else. If such hassle is given, how will agricultural entrepreneurs be encouraged?' She stated that the lack of an international-level lab at NARC makes it difficult for agricultural entrepreneurs involved in import and export. Another MP, Sagar Dhakal, said that the issues raised by NARC employees and experts in the committee are very important and it is the committee's responsibility to implement them rather than just keeping them in discussion. At the beginning of the meeting, NARC's Acting Executive Director Dr. Shreemat Shrestha had demanded the formation of an autonomous 'Agricultural Research Service Commission' to make the appointment of scientists in NARC impartial, professional, and free from conflict of interest. He lamented that the brain drain of skilled manpower is happening because the service and facilities of scientists are weaker than those of civil servants, and the morale of scientists has fallen due to the lack of pension and having to go to the ministry even for dearness allowance. Stating that NARC's restructuring is necessary, he proposed a two-tier structure with a separate 'Agricultural Research Foundation' for policy making, resource management, and monitoring, and for implementation. During the discussion, employees of various crop development centers and NARC demanded that the NARC Act be amended to give equivalence to agricultural scientists and that adequate budget be allocated for agricultural laborers working in research centers.