Speaking on the occasion Shri Ramesh informed that his Ministry, before taking a final decision on bringing the Bt Brinjal, has planned to make a common consensus on the basis of public consultations across the country. He informed that such consultations are being conducted at seven locations in the country and this is the fifth one, which is being conducted in the Chandigarh. He said that these consultations will help the government to implement the decision in a transparent and democratic way, in which all aspects including the reactions of the people in favour or against the Bt Brinjal will be taken into consideration. The viewpoints of the stakeholder groups including agriculturists, scientists, health experts, consumer groups, citizen forums, NGOs, media and legal experts will also be considered.
The Minister said that the statutory body of the Ministry known as Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), has recommended the environmental release of Bt Brinjal in India on the basis of recommendations of the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation constituted earlier. He said that these consultations will provide appropriate inputs to the Ministry regarding deciding about the Bt Brinjal.
Later interacting with the media, Shri Ramesh said that Ministry of Environment & Forests is committed to maintain the environmental balance by controlling the pollution in the country. He said that in Punjab a project worth Rs. 190 crore for river cleaning will be started soon, in which the work will be started from Sutlej river falling in Jalandhar and Phillaur cities in Punjab. He further said that state government has been directed to prepare a detailed action plan to deal with the pollution in Ludhiana as it has become 8th critically polluted city in the country. The Minister said that a notification to overcome the problem of pollution has been released to all those cities, which are emitting heavy amount of industrial pollution. He said that the notification of pollution control has also affected the investment plan of Rs. 25000 crore, which is in the pipeline for the industrial development in Ludhiana and Gobindgarh and waiting for appropriate action of the state government to curb pollution. He also said that the state governments must own the responsibility to maintain the environmental standards by checking the increasing rate of municipal and industrial pollution through the Pollution Control Boards. #
India: National Consultations on Bt Brinjal to make Consensus begins
Special Correspondent - 2010-01-30 06:23
Chandigarh: Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in collaboration with the Centre for Environment Education organized an open interaction on National Consultations on Bt Brinjal at Chandigarh. Union Minister of State for Environment & Forests (Independent Charge), Shri Jairam Ramesh interacted with the farmers, scientists, doctors, environmentalists, NGOs and representatives of other section of society to take public perception on the introduction of the Bt Brinjal in India. As many as 500 participants took part in the open session and expressed their views on pros and cons of the Bt. Brinjal.