Telangana Govt Directs PJTAU to Drop BSc Horticulture Course at Aswaraopet

The Telangana government has directed Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University (PJTAU) to immediately withdraw its decision to introduce the BSc (Hons) Horticulture programme at the College of Agriculture in Aswaraopet, located in Bhadradri Kothagudem district.

The directive was issued on Wednesday, just a day before admissions counselling was set to commence. Agricultural Production Commissioner and Secretary to Government for the Agriculture and Co-Operation department, K Surendra Mohan, issued the official order.

The government's intervention followed strong objections raised by Sri Konda Laxman Telangana Horticultural University (SKLTGHU). Officials from the specialised horticultural university questioned PJTAU's move to introduce the horticulture degree when a dedicated university for the discipline already exists in the State.

Earlier, PJTAU had invited applications from TG EAPCET-qualified candidates for admissions to regular seats across several programmes, including BSc (Hons) Agriculture, BSc (Hons) Horticulture, and BTech Food Technology across its 13 colleges. The admissions counselling was scheduled to take place from August 27 to 29.

A senior SKLTGHU official pointed out that PJTAU had announced admissions for 30 seats in the BSc (Hons) Horticulture course at the Aswaraopet campus despite SKLTGHU already offering the programme across Telangana. Following the objections, the state government instructed the agricultural university to halt admissions for the course.