Natarajan strikes a tough stance on field trials, takes on Sharad Pawar

Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan has dropped a bombshell that could prove to be significant in the current battle over Genetically Modified (GM) crop field trials. Chetan Chauhan reports.

Updated on: Jul 29, 2013, 01:50:10 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

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Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan has dropped a bombshell that could prove to be significant in the current battle over Genetically Modified (GM) crop field trials. Natarajan, sources said, had raised issues similar to the ones in the final report of the Technical Expert Committee report submitted last week to the Supreme Court.

Natarajan wrote to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh recommending that field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops not be allowed till a regulatory framework and safety protocols were put in place. Natarajan’s missive was her response to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar accusation that she was stonewalling the development of GM crops and technology in India. The letter clarified the environment ministry’s stand on GM food crops.

Natarajan also questioned Pawar on his argument that GM food crops were necessary to ensure food security in the country, quoting several studies which questioned this logic and the relationship.

Instead, Natarajan said, improving the productivity of small land owning farmers can improve productivity without GM crops and the resultant issues.

Field trials of 56 varieties of GM crops cannot be allowed without a proper regulatory mechanism because the government has only introduced the Bio-Technology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill in Parliament, not approved it, she has stated.

The letter also flagged off the issue of many state governments refusing permission to allow field trials of GM crops. Without the cooperation of state governments it would not be possible to conduct proper field trials of GM crops even if Natarajan’s environment ministry gave approvals.

The minister has reportedly written that the approvals to GM crops cannot be given till the Supreme Court takes a final view on the TEC report. Earlier this month, a committee of the court had submitted a report with one dissent recommending a ban on trials of GM crops till regulatory mechanism and adequate safety protocols are put in place.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

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