Agriculture Extension Officers Call of Strike, Arrive at Pact

Hyderabad: Extension officers who met the director of agriculture agreed to call off their strike and resume digital crop survey. Officials agreed to take their problems to the notice of the government.

The meeting held between the representatives of the agriculture extension officers, representatives of state-level gazetted/non-gazetted, and officials discussed the issue of suspension of the AEOs. Representatives of the AEOs aired the difficulties they are facing in holding the survey. They sought facilities needed for the work at the village level and brought them to the notice of the director.

Officials sought immediate taking up of the digital survey in their purview from the same day.

“We asked for a phone, tab and a power bank among other things to hold the survey,” said A. Naveen Kumar, president, Graduate AEOs Union.

“Officials have agreed to hold talks with us again on Monday and listen to the problems faced by us in conducting the survey. Unlike the crop enrolment done in the earlier surveys, the digital crop survey requires us to identify which crop is present in every parcel of land. A farmer’s land can be there in many survey numbers, all of that has to be enumerated. We are not against holding the survey, we only wanted equipment and additional hands to do our work,” said Bandela Suman, treasurer of AEOs union.