Anti-GM lobby banks on Didi to stall bill
Posted by Labels: Biotechnology, GMO and Hybrid, Law and Legislation
The lobby against introduction of genetically modified crops in the country is banking heavily on chief minister Mamata Banerjee to stall the introduction of Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill, 2011. The controversial bill is expected to be tabled in the Budget session of Parliament.
"Mamata Banerjee's stand on the issue is extremely crucial, not just as a key member of the Manmohan Singh government, but also because she heads the government in a state that is agriculturally very important. Getting a leading agricultural state on board the anti-BRAI team is important," Greenpeace India activist Rajesh Krishnan said on Tuesday.
On Monday, Greenpeace India volunteer and Jadavpur University student Natasha Upadhyay met Mamata at her residence.
They handed her a vegetable bouquet and urged her to write to the Centre to stop the BRAI bill from being tabled in the current form, reminding her of the impending danger that food, farming and environment of the state faces.
The BRAI Bill, 2011 (1) was listed for introduction both during the monsoon and winter sessions last year, but had to be stalled because of the opposition in and outside Parliament. The bill is expected to create a single-window clearance system that will lower the bar for approval of genetically modified crops which are in a controversy around the world owing to the potential dangers they pose to human health, environment and livelihoods dependent on farming.
Though Mamata's unpredictable nature makes her a difficult bet to fall back on any issue, Krishnan felt she would shoot the bill down as it trampled on the state's right over farming. "She has blocked the Teesta river accord with Bangladesh because the state wasn't consulted. She stopped the formation of National Counter Terrorism Centre and devolution of more powers to RPF as an infringement on the state's rights. It is the same with BRAI. Agriculture, after all, is a local and provincial problem and should not have central intervention," he said.
Though state law minister Moloy Ghatak could not attend the national legal conference on the controversial bill that was held at National University of Juridical Sciences on Tuesday, he told TOI that the Bengal government felt the BRAI bill attempted to override the power of the state in the decision-making process regarding GM crops.
"Agriculture and public health, both impacted by GM crops, are under the state list in our Constitution and state government should have the decision making power on whether to permit such technologies in their states," Ghatak added.
Incidentally, the state Cabinet's recommendations on the land policy in 2011 called for ban on use of GM seeds, a position supported by the agricultural directorate in January 2012. In the past, attempts had been made to illegally do field trials of GM crops in Bengal, including BT brinjal, rice, okra and tomato in Bansphul village of Ashoknagar in North 24-Parganas in 2006; boro in Shyambaser Chak in Kulpi, South 24-Parganas in 2007; and ladies finger in Haringhata, Nadia the same year.
"As of now, 72 GM crops are officially undergoing field trials in India. Another 100 field trials have been approved by 16 states. West Bengal is not one of them. Yet there is a surreptitious attempt to undertake field trials here," said agricultural scientist Anupam Paul, a key member of State Agriculture Science & Technologists Association.
Tushar Chakraborty, senior scientist at Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, said the attempt to push GM was designed to take the attention away from the failures of the green revolution. "Whether it will open a road to heaven or gateway to hell, both pro- and anti-GM camps agree to one thing: it will profoundly affect human lives," he said.
Agreed Sridhar Radhakrishnan, convener of GM Free India Coalition. "We are all aware how green revolution has been an environmental catastrophe. Genetic engineering, a disruptive technology, can be worse as it cannot be recalled. The withdrawal syndrome will be severe," he said.
Critiquing the BRAI from a legal, constitutional and democratic perspective,
Supreme Court lawyer Ritwick Dutta said, "The BRAI bill is fundamentally wrong as it does not clearly abide by the international biosafety laws under the Cartegena protocol that India is a signatory to.
"The bill does not follow the precautionary principle when dealing with inherently risky technologies like GMOs and falters on the issue of liability. The clauses on liability are purposefully ambiguous so that biotech companies are not held accountable for any violations or biohazards committed on Indian soil," he pointed out.
Times of India
