Press Information Bureau
Government of India
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PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS ON BT-BRINJAL HELD IN THE CITY
Kolkata: January 13, 2010
Public consultations on Bt-Brinjal were held today at the Bose Institute, in which the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, Shri Jairam Ramesh heard opinions of scientists, farmers and research scholars on the issue. Shri Ramesh said he was holding the first consultation in Kolkata as West Bengal yielded 35 per cent of brinjals cultivated in the country. It would be followed by public consulatations in Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. The entire phase would be over by Feb 5, Shri Ramesh Said.
The minister clarified he was not judging the future of technology but that he had been given the mandate to get public feedback. Various opinions were received. A Kolkata University teacher said if government wants to stop the Genetically Modified crop cultivation, there should be some sense of inquiry. And if it is accepted then we should start slowly in a small-scale and that constant monitoring should be done. A farmer said he had done hybrid chemical farming for 18 years and fell ill in the process several times. Now he has resorted to bio-farming and is doing better. Another scientist said forcible introduction of Bt-Brinjal would create economic and political disturbances. Yet another farmer felt the idea is to market pesticides, GM seeds and chemical fertilizers and that small farmers and village society would be almost destroyed.
Written representations were also submitted to the minister and Shri Jairam Ramesh said he was willing to receive mails on the issue too.
dd/dk/kol/17:35 hrs.
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Palash Biswas
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http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/
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