Now what!

The centre after putting a hault on on the commercial use of Bt Brinjal, are still confused why the crops use was okeyed by genetic engineering approval committee (GEAC) even under improper scientific research. The GEAC had approved the use of Bt Brinjal last year on Oct 15th. It took nearly 90 days for the environmental committee to complete the public discussions and then finally come to a conclusion. In the meantime, Mahyco the company which has produced the current variety of Bt Brinjal has claimed that they have been following the guidelines of the Centre’s department of biotechnology and GEAC. MK Sharma, general manager of Mahyco has stated that, they are confident that sound science, based on evidence incurred over 9 years of thorough testing, will hold and the country’s farmers, consumers and the environment will benefit from agriculture biotechnology. Protesters who have been contradicting the introduction of Bt Brinjal has been asking the Government why they have not taken a tough stand on the way GEAC has been functioning. They have also reminded that it is on the part of the Government to decide whether the approval given GEAC is in line with the standards of public accountability and fulfillment as required by the Law.