You should ask Jaipal Reddy to drop the BRAI bill because it poses a threat to our food safety.

I’m unhappy with your move to introduce the faulty Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) bill in the current session of Parliament. I’m aware that this regulatory body is being created with the intention to ease the clearance of genetically modified (GM) crops and food in our country. It does not address the concerns of farmers, scientists and lakhs of individuals like me who are not in favour of GM food.

I don’t support the creation of a body which does not give importance to the safety of my food. What I want is a body that upholds the safety of my food and health. As a citizen of this country and as someone who will be affected by your decision in the long-run, I want you to drop the BRAI bill and instead bring in a bio-safety protection regime.

The BRAI bill is flawed with a wrong mandate to promote GM crops rather than protect bio-safety from the adverse risks of GM crops. There is an inherent conflict of interest as the Regulatory Authority proposed is under the Ministry of Science and Technology which is also a promoter of GM crops. Added to this, the bill proposes a single window clearance mechanism for GM crops with lack of transparency, lack of long-term bio-safety assessments and a diluted standard of liability.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture also recommended to the Government of India that the BRAI bill is not a way forward to regulate controversial GM crops in the country and instead there should be a bio-safety protection regime.

Given the massive opposition to GM crops in the country, the recommendations by a credible Parliamentary Committee and the risk to our food and farming, I urge you as Minister in charge to “drop the BRAI Bill” and bring in a “Bio-safety Protection Regime”.

Thank you!

[firstname] [lastname]

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Email Jaipal Reddy.

Save your food.

The Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) bill has been introduced in Parliament again. This dangerous bill will create a body that will single-handedly allow the entry of genetically modified (GM) crops into our country.

We’ve stopped this bill for three years, and now the government has introduced it on the sly. Our demand is the same. Minister of Science and Technology, Jaipal Reddy, who introduced this bill, needs to drop this bill right now.

You should ask Jaipal Reddy to drop the BRAI bill because it poses a threat to our food safety

The BRAI bill is riddled with faults. There is no provision for a proper safety assessment of GM crops. It overrides the Right to Information Act and does not allow people to question its decision. It looks like the BRAI bill is being created to shove GM food onto our plates.

This fight to keep our food safe has been won by us before. We’ve been successful in keeping away GM food from our country for ten years! Our massive opposition resulted in a moratorium on Bt brinjal. We even stalled BRAI for three years. So let’s do this once again.