Tamil Nadu won't allow field trials of GM crops: Jayalalithaa

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Thursday said her government will not allow field trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in the state.

She asserted that when the new government at the centre, in which AIADMK would be a part, assumes office after the general elections, the permission to field trials of GM crops would be cancelled.

Jayalalithaa was addressing an election rally here, around 300 km from Chennai.

Referring to the centre's recent decision to allow field trials of around 200 varieties of GM crops, she said it would make the multi-national seed companies happy and result in grief for farmers.

Citing her government's decision to not accord environmental clearance to the Great Eastern Energy Corporation to drill wells for methane exploration in the Thanjavur region, Jayalalithaa said a committee has been constituted to look into the project's environmental impact.

She said her government would not encourage industrialisation at the cost of farmers.

Faulting the centre for agreeing to anti-farmer proposals at the 2013 World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit held in Bali in Indonesia, she said her party would take action to rectify the problems.

She criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for not protecting the state's fishermen from attacks by the Sri Lankan navy and urged the people to throw out the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.

She said Manmohan Singh, instead of telling Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to stop attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen, is shaking hands with him.

The chief minister was referring to the recent meeting between the Indian prime minister and Rajapaksa on the margins of the Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC) meeting held in Myanmar.

Jayalalithaa said India has the moral responsibility to bring a resolution against Sri Lanka for violating human rights there. But the government has not even supported the resolution brought forward by other countries.

According to her, the UPA government has not taken sufficient steps to modernise the country's defence forces. She said the centre neglected the armed forces.