NEW DELHI, India — Activists wearing masks of Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister of Science and technology, distributed models of GE Brinjal near Technology Bhavan today. This was to highlight that the nexus between policy makers and private companies in promoting Genetically Engineered (GE) crops can pose a serious threat to public health and safety. A banner in the backdrop in the shape of a mock certificate read ‘GE food safe certified by Mahyco’
Greenpeace activists sell mock genetically engineered vegetables wearing masks of Minister of science and technology, Kapil Sibal in front of the ministry of science and technology. This was to demonstrate against the alleged nexus between policy makers and private companies in promoting GE crops.
A mock shop for selling transgenic vegetables was also set up by
the activists with an activist wearing a mask of Mr Sibal selling
models of GE vegetables.
"Why should the Ministry Of Science and Technology take such
efforts to hide a scientific evidence which has tremendous impact
on public health and safety, unless there is fear of getting caught
red handed over manipulated and doctored data?" asks jai Krishna,
Campaigner, Sustainable Agriculture, Greenpeace India. "The
Government should pay more attention to people's health and
environmental safety rather than nurturing alliances with companies
like Mahyco", added Jai Krishna,
In the past, Greenpeace has expressed concerns over the
authorities' relying on safety tests which are either done by the
company or outsourced to other private agencies.. The Department of
Biotechnology (DBT) which is under Mr Sibal's ministry, has refused
to disclose safety data on transgenic crops for any independent
analysis, despite a Right To Information (RTI) petition filed by
Divya Raghunandan of Greenpeace in 2006. , The case was later heard
by the Chief Information Commission which overruled the DBT's
contention and directed the department to divulge the data in
public interest. Now, two years hence the orginal request has been
made, the company, Mahyco has approached Delhi High Court against
CIC's directive pleading that the disclosure of this information
would hurt its competitive interest. Last week, Divya Raghunandan
has also filed her response to the Delhi High court in this case.
The case is scheduled for 23rd April.
"The court should consider public interest over commercial
interest even if commercial interest of a company is jeopardized.
And given the fact that this is a case where there is no
information available regarding the safety of consumers or the
viability of the crops as far as farmers are concerned, it is the
public interest that has to be regarded as far more important than
the private interest of the company," said Dr. Amit sengupta, of
All India Peoples Science Network.
'The UN Agricultural Assessment Report launched last Tuesday
raises concerns on the safety of GE crops to health and environment
and clearly says that they are no solution to food security. We
hope that in light of this report prepared by 400 eminent
scientists over a period of three years, Government of India will
re-visit its GE policies. As the science and technology ministry
seems to ignore all the writing on the wall we strongly urge the
Health Minstry to step in and save us from this large scale feeding
trial ", added Jai Krishna
For further information, contact
Jai Krishna, Campaigner, Greenpeace India, email: , Mob: +91 9845591992
Jayashree, Greenpeace India Communications, ; Mob: +91 9343868011
Notes to Editor
1.Mr Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister for Science and Technology is an ardent supporter of Genetically Modified Crops and he has taken pro-Mahyco stand on several occasions. A compilation of his public statements on this subject is attached.
2. A brief of the RTI case is attached
3. Copy of the UN Agriculture Assessment Report is available at http://www.agassessment.org