Concerned citizens, organisations and Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV) have urged the Telangana government to assert its authority and protect the public interest regarding the breach of policy decision on Genetically Modified (GM) crops by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), the regulator appointed by the Government of India.
In a letter addressed to Chief Minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao and Agriculture Minister S.Niranjan Reddy here on Saturday, they said that the Telangana government has taken a decision to not allow Bt cotton field trials. However, there are growing concerns that the GEAC is attempting to introduce GM crops in Telangana through alternative channels.
“The current regulatory framework poses significant risks to the environment and public health. The near-deregulation of Site Directed Nuclease (SDN) -1 and SDN-2 gene-edited crops, which are categorised as GM crops, raises concerns about uncontrolled proliferation and potential contamination. Independent experts appointed by the Supreme Court have already recommended a ban on herbicide-tolerant GM crops and a 10-year moratorium on Bt food crops. Moreover, the GEAC has been granting approvals for open-air releases of GMOs in states with explicit policies against GM crops,” they said in the letter adding that instances of GM mustard being planted in States without obtaining No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the state governments, including in state agriculture universities, raise concerns about regulatory oversight and accountability.
They said that open-air trials such as GM banana are being conducted without adhering to the Telangana state NOC system.
“Withdraw the environmental release approval for GM mustard by the Union government and GEAC. Prohibit all forms of open-air releases of GMOs in Telangana, including event selection trials, confined field trials, seed production trials, Biosafety Research Level Trials (BRLT)-1 and BRLT-2, and environmental release. Reject the proposal for notified field trial sites in Telangana and uphold the integrity of the NOC system for GM crops. Ensure that GEAC does not entertain any applications for open-air releases of GMOs, including genome-edited organisms, in Telangana or any other state with an explicit policy against GM crops,” the letter read.
