28.11.2011 | permalink
India’s agricultural future looks bleak as the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill 2011 is scheduled to pass in the current session of Indian parliament. This highly controversial bill calls for the formation of a new regulatory body that is the ultimate authority on the introduction of Genetically Modified crops in India. This body makes a mockery of both consumer protection as well as farmer rights, as it stipulates that the body will be made up of five members based within the Department of Biotechnology, the very body that funds GM crop research in the country. To add to the irony, the DBT is also the main agency for channelling funds from foreign governments to GM crop development projects.