Bhopal, March 5 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari on Thursday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, highlighting that thousands of posts in several departments of the state government, including in agriculture, were vacant.

Congress leader in his letter mentioned that despite Chief Minister Mohan Yadav declaring 2026 for ‘Krishi Kalyan Varsh’ (Farmers Welfare Year), the agricultural system in this state is “collapsing” under the burden of state government’s “apathy”.

“Mohan Yadav government in Madhya Pradesh has declared the year 2026 as the Farmer Welfare Year, but the actual state of the government machinery makes this announcement a bitter mockery,” Patwari wrote in a letter.

He further mentioned that the official figures from the Agriculture Department show that out of 14,537 sanctioned positions in the department, 8,468 are vacant, which means that approximately 60 per cent of the staff is absent, and the remaining staff are claimed to be solving the problems of farmers across the state.

Congress leader mentioned that the situation is similar in several other departments also. He noted that out of 1,290 positions in the Fisheries Department, 722 are vacant. Similarly, 1,459 out of 3,079 posts are vacant in the Horticulture department.

Patwari claimed that nearly 35 per cent posts are vacant in the Cooperative department, while Food Commission has 48 vacant positions out of 61 positions.

“The situation is also extremely serious at the top level of agricultural administration. Of the 182 sanctioned positions for senior officials, 113 are vacant, including key positions such as Additional Director, Joint Director, and Deputy Director. The situation at the ground level is even more worrisome,” Patwari’s letter read.

He further mentioned that nearly 60 per cent posts like Rural Agricultural Extension Officers are “vacant”, even though these officers are considered the backbone of delivering government schemes and technical advice to farmers.

He claimed that experts clearly agree that this staff “shortage” is impacting initiatives like crop loss surveys and soil health cards at the grassroots level.

“The same plight is evident in the state’s agricultural institutions, where 557 out of 1,065 positions are vacant in the Directorate of Agricultural Engineering. Five out of 14 positions are vacant in the Seed and Farm Development Corporation. Eight out of 23 positions are vacant in the Organic Certification Institute. 27 out of 49 positions are vacant in the Agricultural Extension Training Institute,” he wrote.

–IANS

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