In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said: “From the inception of Bt cotton, there has been a sustained objection from some of the NGOs besides civil society, technical expert committee constituted by Supreme Court, Parliamentary Standing Committee, etc,” “The objections have been very speculative and confusing, without any reasonable assessment of the technological strengths of Bt cotton. ... There is no scientific evidence to show that Bt cotton has adversely impacted the biodiversity of human/cattle health,” he said. The NGOs and panels have opposed on the grounds that biosafety assessment of Bt cotton before its introduction and post release monitoring of it were not adequate. Secondly, Bt cotton was not suitable for cultivation for rainfed areas. Lastly, cattle death and farmers’ suicides were attributed to introduction of Bt cotton in some regions, he added.