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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Food for Debate

Food for Debate

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published Published on Jan 25, 2010   modified Modified on Jan 25, 2010

The now-familiar debate over Bt brinjal, the first genetically modified food crop almost poised for commercial production in India, posits greater productivity and resistance to pests against health and environmental concerns. A new semi-debate has been generated by the decision of the Union environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, to conduct public consultations across the country at which scientists, non-governmental organizations, and representatives of consumer bodies may present their views. Scientists in favour of the GM brinjal that was cleared for commercial production by the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee are strongly against this move. Science and technology decisions cannot be made by popular vote, one has said. Public consultations on the matter are “unwarranted”.

The situation raises questions regarding access to full information, the right to choose, and the place of the “public” in a democracy. Prejudice and superstition should certainly not be encouraged. But if the “public” is making a mistake, the more informed must put the Doubting Thomases in the picture. This cannot be done by dismissing all objections as ignorant; it is, after all, their own health and the environment that the dissenters want to protect. Everyone has the right to ask who is gaining from a new product. Long-term gain for agriculture is obviously desirable. The introduction of an approved GM crop could be accompanied by full information, vigilance in testing, and clear labels on the market shelves. This could have been done even without public consultations. But the scientists’ fear, that the loud voices of dissenting “truckloads” will carry the day, can only come true if the government responds with politics, not science.


The Telegraph, 25 January, 2010, http://telegraphindia.com/1100125/jsp/opinion/story_12023865.jsp
 

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