14/07/2020
The pro-GRAM CHANNEL'S 3-C CHALLENGE SERIES BY DR JAGVEER RAWAT
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR SUPPLY OF SAFE AND NUTRITIOUS FOOD IS RESPONSIBILITY OF A STATE AGRI/VET UNIVERSITY
ABSTRACT:
SAFE AND NUTRITIOUS FOOD IS THE "VALUE" FOR CONSUMERS AND IF THAT BRINGS "ENHANCED INCOME IN THE HANDS OF PRODUCERS", BOTH GAIN
WHO CAN WE OFFER THIS VALUE AND CREATE A QUALITY ASSURANCE MECHANISM, WHICH REMAINS IN HANDS OF, BOTH, PRIMARY PRODUCERS AND CONSUMERS?
THE STATE AGRICULTURAL OR VETERINARY UNIVERSITY though must have a well defined and well-understood "Knowledge Management System" or KMS within the university. This article traces the work being done towards that direction in India and type of obstacles faced by it during last decade.
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I always believed that it is the responsibility of the State Agri/Vet Universities (SAVU) to understand the desires of producers and consumers in terms of what type of food they want. The "Desires" in form of "product attributes", should be analysed through a proper "Knowledge Management System" created by the University. For that, in year 2012-13, I proposed to establish the "Seven Knowledge Gateway System" at LUVAS ostensibly to fulfill the aspirations of both producers and consumers and it has several elements in each of the Seven Knowledge Gateway Systems.
What is the state of affairs, even after 7 years down the line? We can say that with several false-starts and several hiccups we are on to the course to implement "The pro-GRAM MODEL".
Now, the work-elements of The pro-GRAM MODEL are getting clearer and certain set of efforts are crystallised into The pro-GRAM MANTRA such as The pro-GRAM BEEJ MANTRA.
Recently, two districts of Haryana - Hisar and Bhiwani - are being put for an intensive exercise to understand what are the crucial financial, institutional and technological (FIT) gaps, which could be filled through "The pro-GRAM MODEL" and weaved into such a "project proposal", which does not have dependency on state's funds?
WHAT ARE SUCH PROJECTS WHICH DO NOT DEPEND ON FUNDS OF THE GOVERNMENT?
Consumers now want "Pure", that means, quality was safe and nutritious "product of livestock origin" or PLO.
As we work on creating an Association of District Primary Producers at district levels, it is here, "consumers and producers" are brought to work as a "unit" through an arrangement offered by a relevant "Primary Producer Company" which will be assisted by a planned Institute at LUVAS (which may be known as LUVAS's Institute of Knowledge and Enterprise -LIKE). Job of LIKE will be to deploy the Knowledge Management System" of the University to create relevant Project Proposals as well align these with complementary "physical and natural" assets. So, LUVAS's LIKE will align Natural, Physical and Knowledge Assets for the use of "producers and consumers"
University however has to reform its own "knowledge generation (Directorate of Research) and knowledge provisioning (Directorate of Extension Education)" arms, particularly to server several sectors and sub-sectors in veterinary and animal sciences domains.
So, the alignment between DR and DEE as understood by a State Vet University helps in production of "extension education capsule" for benefit of producers and consumers. But there is always a conflict of interest in carrying out this "holy task" as the stakeholders are adept in building pressures on the universities through political masters and the universities in India feel that they have their obligations to fulfill the "diktats" of their political masters. Though the Act of all the universities makes these institutions autonomous.
However, in India almost all the positions of VCs are at the mercy of the ruling party so in fact, the autonomy of these institutions basically is exercised by some officials of top office of the state.
So, what is the way out?
Take example of the US. In the US, Universities also exist as Systems. These Systems are headed by a President, which is an office equivalent to Chancellor in India.
Now I present an important case study for you to evaluate yourself!
It is about Mr Bobby Jindal who at age 24, was appointed Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals by Governor Mike Foster. Two years later, in 1998, he was appointed Executive Director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. He then switched gears and became President of the University of Louisiana System, the 16th largest higher education system in the country (https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/election/2015/06/23/lesser-known-facts-bobby-jindal/29197393/).
If we see the further political journey of this man, he rose to the level of the Governor of the Lousiana State and then went on to introduce reforms in the University and College Systems of the Lousiana State and if one see the maturity of the US Political System, we find that Governor's measure was immediately responded to by his subordinates, that is, Presidents of Universities and Colleges of Lousiana State. And, their responses were not studded with packages of praise as one may read the following:
University of Louisiana System President Sandra Woodley: "We are encouraged by the administration's willingness to identify revenue options that could alleviate budget reductions to higher education. We are in the process of digesting all of the options laid out in the Governor's Executive Budget to examine how it addresses our collective goal of maintaining current funding levels with minimal burden on our students. This is the starting point of a long process of working with the administration and legislators, as most of the revenue proposals are contingent upon legislative action."
CAN WE EXPECT OUR VICE-CHANCELLORS AIRING THEIR VIEWS ON A MEASURE BY THE GOVERNMENT?
I am sure in no way and it could be rather unthought of that within the "dependent system" the Vice-Chancellors could not have their final say in the Board of Management or Executive Council of which they are Chairperson. I have seen some of these leaders are humiliated and put to task by Secretaries of the Government and one would find that such actions make the VCs more subservient than ever and they become so docile that they would toe the line not only during the Board Meeting but out of Board Meetings also, "very junior" officers in the controlling Department of the State or from Finance or by Chancellor's office, could pass oral orders.
So, why is that? Reason to all such questions is that, most of positions in India do come with a price tag as Chancellor and Governor of a state recently said that all positions have a price-tag. With that kind of "arrangements," one should not expect any autonomy.
But, why I am raising it at this time because biggest impact of COVID, CLIMATE and CHINA Challenges (3-C Challenges) could be offsetted if the quality of education gets improved. Otherwise, the biggest collapse in performance is expected on the education sector.
Some of Vice-Chancellors in Haryana are known to make the officials of the state government "in a happy mood". One of the VCs is widely known to carry sweets produced at his University filled in an additional car and used to give a full pack to all officers connected with the university. This way, "smooth-running of his office" could be assured but that did not remain the case.
But, a very common advice to a VC is that his most important task is to shield his office "from those who can bring his omissions and commissions to the notice of the Government". Earlier, the watch-dog or vigilance role was within the formal purvies of teachers and non-teachers associations but now some other stakeholders also come into play and these are "local petty officials of the ruling party as well as influential sections of popular media".
What is the role of VC in the university, that is just one, "he exercises his limited autonomy power to shut the mouths of his critics in and immediately outside the precinct of the university" as generally, these "academic leaders avoid to shoulder any responsibility for even issues of formulation of changes at the worst times such as the one which we are into now". We do not find our VCs sitting in the TV Panels bringing "very refreshing thoughts" into the "sold out and cacophonic debates" of most of our TV Channels.
What we find, therefore, the Institutions of Higher Education are not aware of their duty of studying the impact of the research, extension and education conducted by these institutions though these Institutions are responsible to serve the society through their actions of policy advice as well as they are the one who should recommend what are the required reforms within legislative or executive arms of the government. Who else will shoulder that responsibility? In Haryana, a Haryana Governance Reforms Authority has been appointed on the pattern of the similar authority appointed in Panjab. Besides, Centre Government had appointed two Administrative Reforms Commissions and Haryana also appointed a State Reforms Commission during Hooda Government, headed by Mr Karan Singh Dalal, Hon'ble Member of Legislative Assembly, State of Haryana has instituted a new measure in which at district levels the CM' Good Governance Associates are appointed besides there is a political office of "People's Vigilance Committee or Nigraani Committee". CM's Good Governance Associate task is given to a privately funded University, known as Ashoka University near Sonipat and task of studying reforms in higher education is given to another private university, named OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat. Besides, there is a Higher Education Commission. With so many systems, even a single publically funded university seems not to be into the formal system where it could conduct research into what are the gaps in policies at the level of implementation and state does never seem to get direct legislative or executive advice, though some academicians are deputed to Committees, they are expected to toe the line of the Government others who venture into the both domains on the basis of their knowledge repertoire, are not unwelcome though but it is rarest of the rarest of an act as the university authorities sees it as an act of insubordination despite the fact it could never be invoked in a matter of state interest for which each of the faculty members is paid and these people conduct research and publish paper in national and international journals. What is the purpose of these papers? Eventually, generate knowledge and let the generated knowledge be put to use of the society through all legitimate means and resources. While that is one part of the story, the other part has come out just in open now when it has been reported that only 0.3 per cent knowledge generated from the best papers written by these Professors is put to public's use! Why is that? That means we cannot blame our system of university functioning in India. It may not produce best of the knowledge but even if it produces, the legislation and executive may not take it up? But, why it does not take it up? Simply, many of exhalted academics have a notion that this is not their job/ Well, it may not be but within the university, there are various kinds of organs and in Land Grant Model, which is adopted in India by State Agricultural Universities, has an important organ, named Extension Education wherein it formulates the "Package of Knowledge which are validated and could be put to practice". The traditional universities do not have this mechanism. There is an office of Directorate of Extension Educaiton and it is here I had been associated from the very inception at Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar as Scientist In-charge of Coordination, planning and development and with that position, we put in place a Knowledge Management System at the University, which has in it all the elements of internal institutional coordination mechanism between research, teaching, extension education and human resource management Directorates of the university vis-a-vis a mechanism to interact with outside the university and within the Government, Cooperative and primary producers' domain through an Extension Education Committee which was made widely representative but it never carried out even a single Meeting duirng my stay at the Directrorate. Why? No Chief of a Government or Semi-Government or autonomous institution would like to shoulder responsibility of working with the people and they think this way, they would become liable for more monitoring.
RAY OF HOPE:
During my involvement with Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan since 2014, I have been lucky that I usually was asked by its Chairman to suggest a system of institutional reforms through the introduction of new concepts through which roles of Institutions of Higher Education could be more relevant to people of rural areas. Through these suggestive measures UBA seems to be working steadily on "filling the gaps in policy advice" as well as "in the implementation system" but what has been the impact? It has been very slow as the Institutions consider it as an agenda of the ruling Party and even develop a "resistance". Some of the Head of Institutions may dare as well as many faculty members also dare. Majority of the VCs and faculty love to remain dormant fearing that"policy advice and reforms in governance system" is not their role at all and if they indulge in this battle-field, it will cost their Chair!!!
So, they do not exercise the very important power of their job, that is, autonomy.
Did you know Jindal was the University of Louisiana System President at one point?
