The Hindu Business Line : Independent body to probe Bt brinjal issue

Non-Governmental organisations, opposing moves to introduce Bt brinjal, have set an "independent expert committee" to look into the claims made by Mahyco on biosafety issues.

Contending that constitution of the official expert committee was questionable and that the terms of reference were too narrow, Thanal (Thiruvananthapuram) and Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA, Hyderabad) said the independent panel would also take note of the civil society responses vis-à-vis the promoter's data and literature on the subject.

Besides, it would also discuss whether there was any need for introduction of Bt brinjal in the country and suggest a future course of action to the Government, including the GEAC.

"The very constitution of official expert committee is questionable as promoters of genetically modified crops are made its members. It shows conflict of interests. Also, half of the members of the official panel were members of GEAC.

"They can express their view on this issue as members of GEAC," Dr Ramanjaneyulu of CSA said here in a press release.

It was also not clear what procedures the official committee would follow in taking public feedback, he felt.

The independent panel would comprise Dr K.P. Prabhakaran Nair (international agricultural scientist), Dr M.S. Chari (entomologist and former Director of Central Tobacco Research Institute), Dr Ramesh Bhat (toxicologist and former Deputy Director of National Institute of Nutrition) and Dr D. Narasimha Reddy (economist).

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