Crucial meeting to take call on 53 varieties of GM crops tomorrow

NEW DELHI: Almost a year after holding its last meeting, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) - government regulatory body on genetically modified organisms - will meet on Friday to take a call on "confined field trials" for 53 transgenic varieties of GM crops.

The move is a step forward after the environment ministry's recent decision to give its go ahead to field trials of over 200 varieties of genetically modified crops which had got the GEAC's nod in its last meeting in March, 2013.

Though the GEAC has circulated agenda of the Friday meeting among its members, it preferred not to bring it in public domain - contrary to the ministry's earlier stand to do such clearance exercise in transparent manner.

Besides considering applications for "confined field trials" of different transgenic varieties of GM crops, the meeting is also scheduled to take a follow up action on the decision taken in its March, 2013. Field trial is an important step to know the bio-safety details of a particular variety.

Among the applications which are to be considered by the GEAC in its Friday meeting include transgenic varieties of maize, sorghum, rice, wheat, cotton and groundnut.

Besides private seed companies, government research institutions and Universities are also among the applicants which have applied for "confined field trials" of their respective transgenic varieties of GM crops. Applications relating to pharmaceuticals will also be considered by the appraisal committee.

The move and the manner in which the GEAC has called the meeting are, however, strongly resisted by anti-GM activists who felt that any decision to allow field trials would not only go against the spirit of the ministry's earlier stand (under the former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan) but also violate the 'model code of conduct' which has been in force in the country ahead of general elections.

The Coalition of GM Free India - an umbrella organization of all anti-GM activists - on Thursday even wrote the Central Election Commission, requesting it to stop the permissions for field trial of GM crops by GEAC as it violates the model code of conduct.

In a letter to chief election commissioner V S Sampath, the Coalition's convenor Rajesh Krishnan said, "We strongly believe that this is being done at the instruction of the current government and there is quid pro quo benefits that the ruling party and the minister in charge (M Veerappa Moily) might accrue during the election period. Needless to say, this will have an impact on the purity of the election process".

The Coalition urged the CEC to direct GEAC and the ministry of environment and forest "to withhold permissions for those field trials that have been granted and also to stop granting of permissions for any field trials in the upcoming meeting (on Friday) until the election process are over and results declared".