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A group of Left MPs today held a protest in Parliament House demanding a ban on endosulfan pesticide and questioned whether the reluctance on the part of the Government to take action in this regard pointed to another “scam’’.
“We demand a nationwide ban on the pesticide. We wonder why there is no ban or is it pointing towards a scam. They say we are politicising the issue. But it is not so. We are just raising a humanitarian issue,” the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member, Mr Sitaram Yechury, said.
There is a demand for banning the pesticide across the country with the Kerala Chief Minister, Mr V.S. Achutanandan, leading the agitation by observing a day-long fast on Monday. The use of endosulfan, which is already banned in Kerala, had led to serious health hazards in Kasargod district.
The Rajya Sabha member, Mr P. Rajeeve, said the Left parties were demanding a country-wide ban on pesticide.
“We are protesting the stand taken by the country at the Stockholm Conference which is dealing with the question of banning the pesiticide,” he said.
Mr P.K. Biju, a CPI (M) MP in Lok Sabha, said 84 countries have already banned the pesticide. “There has been 16 conventions earlier. What we need from the Government is a strong stand on the issue at the Stockholm Conference,” he said.
The Government had said it would take a view on the issue “in the best interest of the country” after the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) submits its report.
“The use of endosulfan has been banned in Kerala. However, imposing a nationwide ban would require national consensus backed by scientific study,” a PMO release said after Mr Oommen Chandy, Leader of the Opposition in Kerala, and the KPCC chief, Mr Ramesh Chennithala, met the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.
Noting that a committee chaired by the Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was examining the harmful effects of endosulfan on the health of the people, the PMO said the committee would be asked to “expedite” its report.
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