Sri Vijaya Puram, October 24: The Parliamentary Committee on Papers Laid on the Table (COPLOT) reviewed the Annual Reports and Audited Accounts of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) during a meeting held at Swaraj Dweep Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on October 23, 2026.
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Laxmikant Bajpayee, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, and attended by Mahua Maji and Mansingh Meraman Parmar, both Members of Parliament in the Upper House.
Dr. Anil Kumar Dixit, Assistant Director General (PIM), ICAR, presented the status of the annual accounts and audited reports before the Committee. The deliberations formed part of the parliamentary oversight process concerning the submission and examination of official documents by public institutions.
Officials from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat who participated in the meeting included Sanjeev Chandra, Director; Anup Amrit Sahu, Under Secretary; Deepak Kumar, PS to the Chairperson; and Manish Manral, Committee Officer.
Representing ICAR, Dr. Jai Sunder, Director (Actg.), ICAR-Central Island Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR-CIARI), Sri Vijaya Puram, attended the meeting along with Sunita Arya, Director (Finance), ICAR; Manish Wadhera, Deputy Director (Finance), ICAR; and Sanjay Rastogi, Under Secretary (TC), ICAR.
The meeting provided an opportunity for the Committee to examine the Annual Reports and Audited Accounts of DARE and ICAR as part of its responsibility to scrutinise documents laid before Parliament. The deliberations underscored the importance of timely submission of reports, financial transparency, accountability and adherence to established procedures in the functioning of public institutions.
The review also brought attention to the institutional processes governing the presentation of annual reports and audited financial statements. These documents form part of the formal reporting framework through which public institutions account for their activities and finances.
The presence of ICAR-CIARI’s leadership in the meeting also connected the parliamentary review with the agricultural research institution based in Sri Vijaya Puram. ICAR-CIARI operates within the national agricultural research framework, while DARE oversees agricultural research and education at the central level.
The meeting at Havelock Island placed the review of agricultural research institutions’ official reports within the Committee’s parliamentary oversight work, with an emphasis on procedural compliance, accountability and financial transparency.
