The entry of big corporate houses into the domain of the smaller communities looms as a large threat to bio-cultural diversity, said E. Haribabu, Vice-Chancellor of University of Hyderabad.
Speaking at the inauguration of the national seminar on ‘Bio-cultural diversity: Emerging perspectives and new challenges’ conducted by SVU Department of Anthropology here on Thursday, he said the industrialisation of agriculture, corporatisation of healthcare and privatisation of medical research, animal husbandry, horticulture and allied fields could pose a crisis to the very existence of biodiversity. The concept of claiming Intellectual Property Rights over natural resources will be detrimental to the survival rights of an individual. “When India grows 300 varieties of brinjal, how is it justified to alter a gene in it and claim it as one’s property?” he wondered. SVU Vice-Chancellor W. Rajendra announced that a ‘Centre for Bio-cultural Diversity’ would be established.
