Jairam Ramesh hits back at scientists for Bt brinjal criticism

Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh today hit back at scientists who had accused him of holding biased public consultations on Bt brinjal. He said Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan, the two science stalwarts of India, would not have behaved in similar manner.

“My conscience is clear. I have listened to all points of view,” said Ramesh. He has come under criticism from a section of the scientific community for putting on hold commercialisation of Bt brinjal.

“Scientists are not Gods,” he told Business Standard, refusing to accept as final the word of GEAC (Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee), a statutory body. Some GEAC members have been accused of ignoring conflict of interest issues, even as they took a critical decision of approving Bt brinjal for commercial cultivation.

“I’ve not opened my mouth on conflict of interest issues,” said Ramesh. He did not mention some committees in the ministry which had to be reconstituted as they had direct conflict of interest issues in power and mining, two critical sectors that require environmental clearances. A comment from a scientist, strongly in favour of Bt brinjal cultivation, urged the government to accept the work of India’s agriculture universities and a “private partner, who is equally committed”. “The scientists involved in generating the ECII (expert committee II) report are outstanding and internationally recognized for their contribution,” he said.

Scientists in ECII had voiced concern over the long-term effects of Bt technology in food crops.

Vasantha Muthuswamy, a former scientist with the Indian Council of Medical Research, said: “Our collective wisdom is limited on recombinant technology. Therefore, we are treading carefully. Decisions have been based on current evidence in science. But we must have a system of post-marketing surveillance to assess health impacts.” Those familiar with the health systems know that post-marketing surveillance, even in the case of medicines, is poor and overall surveillance is virtually nil despite several efforts since the outbreak of plague in 1994 to put a comprehensive system in place.

Several top scientists, including Green Revolution scientist M S Swaminathan opposed the introduction of Bt brinjal without further testing.

“Is M S Swaminathan not a scientist? Is Pushpa Bhargava, who set up the department of biotechnology not a scientist.” the minister asked.

As for the road map ahead, he said: “An independent regulatory body needs to be set up, a consensus is needed on the tests required, the duration of those tests and where they are to be conducted.” Also, the moratorium period should be used to “get politics right”. Asked to suggest a timeline for this actions, Ramesh said: “It’ll take a few years. What’s wrong with waiting?”