PRESS
RELEASE
18 December 2011.
The HUMANIST PARTY of
INDIA, as part of the DELHI ALLIANCE FOR SAFE
FOOD, supports the Campaign for immediate
cancellation of the "BIOTECHNOLOGY
REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA BILL 2011", that is proposed to be
tabled in the Parliament at any time.
The BRAI bill 2011 signifies the blatant nexus between Multinational Seed
companies who are pushing their Genetically modified crops in
India and our government institutions, and the corrupt
Politicians and the bureaucracy.
The BRAI bill 2011 is a negative legislation since it
is based on “anti-life-manipulation-of-science” - it indeed
truly represents CORRUPTION of Ideas acting in the fields of
Science, Law, Industry, Politics among others.
This corrupt practice of multiple players, being
presented to India by Monsanto and its partners in this
death-game is unfortunately getting the full support from UPA
Government headed by the Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh,
and deserves full-complete opposition from all life-supporting
Indians.
The campaign being conducted under the banner of DELHI ALLIANCE FOR SAFE FOOD, formed by a wide cross section of consumers,
farmers, traders, civil society, trade union activists,
scientists and academics from Delhi support of hundreds of Organizations
representing millions of Indians, urges the Manmohan Singh
Government to not only drop the proposed legislation
completely but also cancel all the current trials being
conducted in different parts of India on different kinds of GM
seeds. These trials are not just illegal and immoral but also
anti-life, as we have seen deaths of hundreds of thousands of
farmers specially in the areas where BT-Cotton has been
allowed over the last years.
No Government in a true-democracy has the right to
sell the security & sovereignty of its people's lives. If
any Government attempts to do that, it will risk facing the
strong opposition of people leading to the end of its
undemocratic rule.
Continuation of insisting this bill will only prove
the corrupt-violent credentials of the current Government and
the people of India, in that case will have no choice but to
work for a new Government that will be formed based on the
following principals :
1. ACTIVE NON-VIOLENCE:
2. HUMAN BEING AS THE CENTRAL VALUE:
3. CO-OPERATIVE SYSTEM:
4. NON-DISCRIMINATION:
5. PRINCIPLE OF OPTION AND OF NO MONOPOLIES:
For THE HUMANIST PARTY OF INDIA
(Sudhir Gandotra)
SECRETARY – INTERNATIONAL TEAM.
Available
for
download at : www.humanistparty.org/hpindi_Press_release_brai-bill.doc
Major concerns with BRAI Bill, 2011
-
The fundamental basis of regulation on products of modern biotechnology lies in the risks associated with modern biotechnology. Therefore, there should only be one primary mandate or objective to this statute: to prevent risks to the health and safety of people of India, its socio-economic fabric, its environment and its biological diversity in particular, from the development, handling, transport, use, transfer and release of any living modified organisms. But the preamble of the current proposal gives one a feeling that products of modern biotechnology are a fait accompli and the law is being made to 'promote' safe usage.
-
There is an inherent, objectionable conflict of interest as
the BRAI is proposed to be under the Ministry of Science and
Technology, which already has a mandate to promote GM crops, a
product of modern biotechnolgy which BRAI is supposed to
regulate. The very mandate of the BRAI Bill is inappropriate.
-
There is no intention or mention of independent, long-term
and rigorous biosafety assessment of GM crops.
-
Centralised and narrow decision-making with no mechanism for
consultation with the public or involvement of multiple
stakeholders in decision-making is present in the bill, which
is against the spirit of democracy and against the Cartagena
Protocol, to which India is a signatory.
-
No mechanism for transparency- Worse yet, the Bill bypasses
the citizen’s right to information by overriding the Right to
Information Act, 2005, for commercial interests.
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The Bill overrides the state governments’ authority over
health and agriculture and thereby challenging the federal
polity of the country.
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It is also objectionable and problematic that this Act will have an over-riding effect over other laws in force, since this Bill is indeed inconsistent with legislations like the Biological Diversity Act.
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The Bill has very weak penal clauses and lacks deterrent liability mechanisms to ensure prevention of mishaps and irresponsible actions by GM crop developers and promoters. It also lacks any redressal mechanisms where by stakeholders [farmers, consumers etc] can be compensated for damages [deliberate or otherwise] caused and remediation ensured.
-
Very importantly, the Bill fails to talk about any needs
evaluation, socio-economic assessment and assessment of
alternatives, which was also stressed by the Government in its
Bt brinjal moratorium decision – and assumes that all
biotechnology and GM crops are a fait accompli.
More details at :
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