Patna, October 16, 2011: The GM Free Bihar Movement today rejected the
Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill as anti-people and
anti-nature, saying that the Bihar Government should also pitch in immediately
to stall the Bill before it becomes a law. At a dharna held at the Kargil Chowk, farmers and activists also
started a signature campaign against the Bill which they said denied State
Governments their authority over Agriculture and Health, which are primarily
state subjects.
They felt that besides other failings, there is urgent need to review
the Bill before its introduction to the Parliament so that the interests of
farmers could be protected and that the Bill should be introduced not by the Ministry
of Science and Technology but by the Ministry of Health or Ministry of
Environment & Forests.
The speakers at the protest also attacked the Bill for its attempts to
bypass the citizens’ Right to Information, as they said, “This Bill, through
Section 28, expressly seeks to classify some information as Confidential
Commercial Information and leaves it to the discretion of officials of the
Authority to share or not share this information.”
“This is regressive, given that the Bt brinjal controversy saw express
Supreme Court orders to the regulators asking them to put out all the biosafety
data in the public domain,” said Rekha Modi, a Senior Activist from Bihar. She
further said that the Bill has very weak penal clauses and does not address
liability issues at all.
“The bill will affect our farmers, it will hit our villages. But even
then it does not provide for consultation with people at our panchayat levels
which is most shocking," said Pankaj Bhushan, the convener of the GM
Free Bihar Movement.
Bhushan said Indian farmers have lakhs of varieties of crops developed
through their knowledge that will be under threat if the bill in present form
becomes law. “That is what we are protesting because we want our farmers, our
nature to be protected for they are our real wealth with which we are born,” he
added.
Even the noted agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan recently
criticised the proposed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (Brai)
bill, saying it is against the spirit of Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi and
decentralised governance.
The GM Free Bihar Movement also pointed to a recent press release
issued by Senior National Advisory Council Member & associated with
The National Campaign for People’s Right to
Information (NCPRI) Ms. Aruna Roy, who too criticized the BRAI Bill for total
lack of transparency and being an antidote to RTI.
Activist & member GM
Free Bihar Movement, Prakash Bablu said The BRAI Bill is also a regrettable
attempt to curtail spaces for people’s participation and democratic oversight
in decisions that could affect the lives of the entire population of our
country.
The fact that this Bill
has been listed for introduction in Parliament with no discussion of its
contents in the public domain is an indication of the intent to push this bill
through without discussion and debate, said Prof. Nawal Kishore, from Patna University, Patna. He further added that whole system has come under the control of Corporates, so such movement is required to save ourselves.
Social Worker Archna
Sharma said this bill will end our food choice in near future.
Pankaj Bhushan
Convener, GM Free Bihar Movement
National Co Convener, Alliance for Sustainable &
Holitic Agriculture (ASHA)
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