23.12.2011 | permalink
Biotechnology and its regulation are both aspects of science and so the Ministry of Science and Technology is the right ministry to handle it. But even so the ministry does not control BRAI’s functioning. Earlier all scientific regulation was with the Regulatory Committee for Genetic Modification of the Department of Biotechnology that is under MoST. The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee was under the Ministry of Environment & Forests because the primary function of the GEAC is to ensure environmental safety. Nevertheless, the GEAC overstepped its mandate and interfered with all aspects. GEAC is a statutory body and the Minister has no business to interfere like Jaiaram Ramesh (former minister of environment and forests) did. It is absurd to project MoEF as more honest than MoST.