|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Parliament Committee may complicate Bt brinjal issue
|
|
Friday, 12 March, 2010, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
Our Bureau, New Delhi
|
The controversy over Bt brinjal may turn more complicated as a parliament standing committee representing various political parties is likely to disapprove introduction of Bt brinjal in India in its suo motu report on the issue. The Standing Committee on Agriculture, headed by CPI (M) ‘s Basudeb Acharia, is preparing a report to give its opinion on this contentious subject. “We have already held one meeting. Three more meetings will follow before we submit our report to parliament during the second half opf the budget session,” Acharia said.
Insiders in the committee claim that in the first meeting almost all members strongly opposed the move to introduce Bt brinjal in the country. Noted agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan asked for a cautious approach and demanded stringent restrictions.
Sources in the committee suggest as most of the political parties are opposed to the introduction of Bt brinjal, the committee is not likely to give a favourable report. The Left parties are vehemently opposing the proposed roll-out.
As agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is battling for revoking the moratorium imposed by environment minister Jairam Ramesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held a consultation with his colleagues recently and wanted to refer the issue back to the biotech regulator, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), to address all the concerns. According to a minister present at the PM’s meeting, the environment ministry had tried to get the authority to take the final call from GEAC. Now, it has been decided that GEAC will have the final say in the matter.
Kerala to go totally GM free: Jairam Ramesh
In a written reply to a question by ET Mohammed Basheer in the Lok Sabha, minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh said the government of Kerala had informed that it had taken a decision to prohibit environmental release of all Genetically Modified (GM) seeds and keep the state totally GM free.
“The government of India is following a policy of case by case assessment of GM crops. A final view on the commercialisation of GM plants is taken only when scientific studies establish that it is safe from the point of view of its long-term impacts on human health and environment,” Ramesh said.
“However as agriculture is a state subject, it is the prerogative of the state governments to decide whether to adopt GM seeds or not in their commercial production,” he added.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|