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BT Brinjal: Nay, say states Bangalore, February 6 So far, Chief Ministers of eight states have responded to the minister’s letter and they have all opposed commercial introduction of the seed. States opposing the seed included West Bengal and Orissa - the two states which between them account for 50 per cent of the country’s Brinjal production. Chief Minister of Bihar, the state that has a share of 11 per cent in the total Brinjal production, has also opposed the introduction of the seed. Five remaining states opposing Bt Brinjal are Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarh, Kerala and Karnataka. The Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu also wrote to Ramesh saying the state government was opposed to introduction of Bt Brinjal seed in the market. Ramesh disclosed this while talking to reporters here today after having consultations with different groups on the issue of introduction of Bt Brinjal seed in the market. The lengthy meeting saw the minister losing his cool on more than one occasion.“I shall announce my decision on February 10 at 12.30 in the afternoon. I can assure you that it will be a fair decision. Fifty per cent people will be happy with my decision and the other fifty per cent will be sad,” the minister said while winding up the He said he could have given the green light to commercialisation of Bt Brinjal seed in the country immediately after the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of his ministry gave a favourable report. “The GEAC report came in October and I could have given nod to the seed at that time. However, I decided to take views of all sections of people into account before taking the final step,” he said. Ramesh said he would neither ignore the public opinion nor would he dismiss the scientific findings while taking a final decision on the issue. The huge auditorium where the meeting was held was choc-a-bloc with participants with a majority of them opposing commercialisation of the seeds. Fears expressed by them ranged from the possibility of damage to biodiversity to potential of the crop to cause health problems to those consuming the produce. Supporters of the crop pointed out its advantages such as the immunity it apparently enjoyed against attack by pests and so on. The supporters stretched this point to allege that those opposing the crop were acting on behalf of the pesticide lobby. Ramesh himself appeared unhappy with the opposition to Bt Brinjal.
Bangalore, February 6 “I am not a Monsanto agent,” livid Ramesh snapped at the agitator. “You need mental help. You need psychiatric treatment,” he told the protester with a warning, “If you interrupt, I am going to throw you out.” The three-and-half-hour debate saw the minister sniping at protesters. “I will not tolerate wild allegations,” he retorted when he was accused of being hand-in-glove with the “GM-lobby”. Dismissing protests as undemocratic, Ramesh said though public opinion had to play an important role, “much of it is match-fixing. I know all the games that are played”. — PTI
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