Amidst strong protests against permission for GM crop trials across the country, Union Environment Minister and Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily on Wednesday defended his decision to allow filed trials of certain GM food crops in the country by saying it was done after taking expert opinion. Moily told the media on the sidelines of a function in Bangalore that the stipulated conditions put in place would take care of the environmental concerns.
He said “.....this permission (for gene modification field trials for certain food crops) has not been given by me. It has been given by experts. After expert opinion, permission has been given and nothing will be done to harm the fields.”
Moily’s decision to allow gene modification field trials for certain food crops has evoked strong protests across the country. In fact Moily last week cleared a Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee decision to allow gene modification field trials for certain food crops after the same was put on hold for about a year by his predecessor, Jayanthi Natarajan. Moily also justified that the conditions put on trials would take care of the environmental concerns. He said “A number of conditions have been put so it will not harm the atmosphere and also the environment.”
According to sources the permission for trials will give way for GM field trials for rice, wheat, maize and cotton.
Several activists including environmental watchdog Greenpeace and Aam Aadmi Party have slammed Moily’s decision on permitting field trials.
Activists from Greenpeace India along with members of Coalition for a GM Free India registered a strong protest against the way Moily has taken the side of multinational seed companies to permit hundreds of field trials of GM crops across the country.
According to Neha Saigal of Greenpeace India, “The environment Minister has gone ahead and approved around 200 GM field trials including GM varieties of rice, maize and other food crops which have a huge potential to contaminate our seed and food supply. We want all the political parties to come forward and demand the reversal of this irresponsible decision.”
She further added that “Moily’s clearance for field trials just before the country is going for lS polls smacks of impropriety, to say the least. Clearly corporate interests have won over the people of this country.”
“It’s now amply clear that Veerappa Moily was brought in during the last innings of the UPA II to give express approvals for these risky experiments of GM crops and with this one act the Government has once again proved that they do not care about science or society when it comes to GM crops,” said Rajesh Krishnan, convener, Coalition for a GM Free India.