Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS) Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Wednesday denied he was under pressure “to approve the commercial release of genetically modified brinjal” as alleged by a renowned molecular scientist.
Pushpa Bhargava, the scientist who is also the Supreme Court appointee in the country’s biotech regulator, alleged at a seminar that Jairam was under “tremendous pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to give commercial clearance for Bt Brinjal.

“The minister right now can stop it (the commercial clearance for Bt Brinjal). I know Jairam very well…he is a good friend. Given to him, he would say no. But he is under tremendous pressure from the PMO,” Bhargava said.

He was speaking at a colloquium on Bt Brinjal, the genetically modified (GM) version of the crop, at the Jawaharlal Nehru University here.

When asked to react to Bhargava’s comments, Ramesh told IANS categorically: “There has been no pressure at all from PMO of any kind.”

Bhargava is the founder director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) as well as a National Knowledge Commission member.

He is also the independent nominee of the Supreme Court to the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), the country’s biotech regulator.

In October last year, the GEAC approved the commercialisation of the genetically modified crop, which drew flak from various green NGOs and public health activists. Now it is up to the environment ministry to decide if Bt Brinjal will be released for commercial use. On Jan 13 the ministry started a series of public consultations on the issue around the country.

Ramesh has put the approval process on hold after major brinjal producing states that account for over 60 percent of the production of the vegetable refused to allow Bt Brinjal.

Asked what the outcome of the ongoing public consultations on the issue would be, Bhargava said Ramesh clearly has two choices.

“He has a choice before him now. If he says no (to the approval) then he will become a hero for the entire world, but he may lose his ministership. If he says yes, well there will be consequences but he may get a cabinet berth or something. The point here is why is the PMO pressing on this?…that is because they are pressing on growth and not equity,” He said.

Bhargava told IANS: “I have tried to contact the prime minister on this issue several times. In fact I wrote him a detailed letter a few months ago (before the GEAC’s October approval). This was the first time I did not get a reply from him. Usually when I write to him the reply is prompt.”