With the unsung "demise" of Bt Brinjal on February 10, 2010 by the announcement from the Minister for Environment, curtains seems to have come down for this debate but subsequent proclamation by the Prime Minister that the moratorium is only temporary raises the possibility of resurrection of this issue sooner or later. That two senior ministers in GOI cabinet are sold on GM crops was amply clear by their pronouncements to the media at the thick of the controversy seeking large scale introduction of GM foods in the country. how ever their motivation came out clearly when it transpired that the S & T minister of GOI had used "biased promotional material" from the GM foods "lobbyists" for influencing the decision of Minister for Health on the need for clearing such genetically manipulated food materials.
"In July 2009, Chavan - in his capacity as a minister in PMO - had written an official letter to the then health minister A Ramadoss on concerns he had raised about the safety of GM food crops. And while doing so, Chavan reportedly quoted directly from the promotional material of the biotech industry lobby - International Service for the Acquisition of Agri- Biotech Applications (ISAAA). This came to light in a letter written by some scientists to Prime Minister Singh this week. No wonder, Chavan has been speaking in the same tongue as industry".
It is a tragedy that this country has ministers who do not care to toe the lines of the lobbyists forsaking the national interest for considerations other than merit. In spite of failing to contain the raging food inflation that is causing wide spread miseries all around, the minister for consumer affairs has plenty of time at his disposal to write a 6-page letter to the PM canvassing for GM foods! Citizens in this country do not need any enemy from out side when such "friendly" ( to whom?) ministers are in power!
V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com
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