———- Forwarded message ———
From: GM Free India <indiagmfree@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 11 May 2019 at 14:41
Subject: Re-sending Correctly: Bt brinjal seeds not confiscated from Mahyco, the crop developer, all these years – Illegal Bt brinjal cultivation found in Haryana now – Liability to be fixed immediately – reg.
To: <drhrshvardhan@gmail.com>, <ps2mefcc@gov.in> Cc: <asaj.moefcc@gov.in>, Kavitha Kuruganti <kavitakuruganti@gmail.com>
(Kindly ignore the earlier mail sent on the subject)
To: May 11, 2019
Dr Harshvardhan,
Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change,
Government of India,
New Delhi.
Email: ps2mefcc@gov.in
Dear Sir,
Sub: Bt brinjal seeds not confiscated from Mahyco, the crop developer, all these years – Illegal Bt brinjal cultivation found in Haryana now – Liability to be fixed immediately – reg.
This is with regard to the fact that there is illegal Bt brinjal cultivation happening in Haryana right now, which we brought to your notice through a complaint by Dr Rajinder Chaudhary and many others from Haryana on April 23rd 2019 through speed post and emailed on 24th 2019 (attached). This is to record our serious concern and objection to the lack of any response from GEAC on this complaint. It was only on 8th May 2019 that we received a routine response from the Joint Secretary of MoEFCC with GEAC (attached) of having forwarded the complaint to Haryana Government. The way in which GEAC responded to this complaint is shocking, to say the least and we are once again convinced that GEAC cannot be entrusted with the responsibility of biosafety from modern biotechnology in its hands. The least that was expected from GEAC was that it would immediately run the lateral strip test, requiring less than half an hour, on samples received by it and based on that, to immediately alert the Government of Haryana as well as neighboring states of Punjab and Rajasthan rather than routinely forwarding the complaint.
The fact that the brinjal plot that we discovered in Ratia village of Haryana is indeed planted to illegal Bt brinjal seeds has now been confirmed through the testing of NBPGR to which Haryana state government had sent samples to – https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/tests-confirm-illegal-cultivation-of-bt-brinjal-in-haryana-district/articleshow/69276147.cms?from=mdr . The fact that the sample is GM has now been confirmed through the testing undertaken by civil society in a private laboratory too.
CROP DEVELOPER IS SITTING ON BT BRINJAL SEEDS ALL THESE YEARS?
This news item also drew our attention to the fact that the crop developer company, Mahyco, had never deposited Bt brinjal seeds lying with it with NBPGR as decided in February 2010. For this, both GEAC and Mahyco are responsible.
We draw your attention to the fact that two days after the indefinite moratorium decision was taken by the Government of India on February 9th 2010, we had written to the GEAC on February 11th 2010, demanding that all seed stocks be seized and destroyed immediately, and also that GEAC immediately notify a liability clause on the crop developer that it will be solely liable (penalty, redressal and remediation clauses included) for any leakage or contamination that could happen during the moratorium period. This email and its attachment are appended as an annexure to this letter for ready reference.
In its 99th Meeting on 17/02/2010, a few days after the letter was sent by us to the Member Secretary of GEAC, Agenda Item No.4.1.7. of GEAC took note of the receipt of the letter. The following was recorded as the decision on the civil society demand, after deliberations:
“4.1.8 The Committee after detailed deliberations concluded that moratorium has not been imposed on conduct of additional studies which would require seeds/ plant materials. It was therefore decided that directions for destruction of seeds cannot be issued at this stage. However, it was agreed that information on seed production, availability, etc, would be obtained from the proponents (M/s Mahyco, TNAU, Coimbatore and UAS Dharwad) and NBPGR may be requested to store the seed stock until a decision on the need and type of additional studies is taken. The Committee requested the Chairman, GEAC to take up the matter with Director NBPGR/ DG-ICAR.”
Subsequent to this, in the 100th meeting of GEAC, held on 12/05/2010, Agenda Item No. 3.1 discussed the issue of confiscation of all seed material from M/s Mahyco as well as TNAU Coimbatore and UAS Dharwad, in which it was recorded that National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) has agreed to accept Bt brinjal seeds, for which a separate facility has been earmarked. It was decided that the GEAC must obtain an affidavit from the company and institutions confirming that all the seed stock available with them has been deposited at NBPGR storage facility.
For the first time today, through a newspaper report and subsequent confirmation from reliable sources, we realise that seed confiscation did not happen, nor was our suggestion about notifying Mahyco about liability on it for any illegal cultivation discovered in the country implemented. The obtaining of an affidavit from the company and the two SAUs would not have happened either, despite this being a decision of GEAC. And here we are, with illegal cultivation of Bt brinjal confirmed in Haryana now.
GEAC IS RESPONSIBLE HERE
For any illegal cultivation of Bt brinjal found in India, the crop/event developer should be held responsible as we demanded in 2010 itself, and it is clear that Mahyco and the two state agriculture universities have to be investigated immediately. It can be assumed that these entities are not responsible only if other illegal seed supply chains are established firmly by Haryana government’s investigations into the matter.
We also demand that the officials of GEAC who failed in the discharge of their responsibilities, in getting the decisions of 99th and 100th meetings of GEAC should be held liable. The implementation of the indefinite moratorium imposed by the Government of India is also the responsibility of GEAC obviously.
In the above backdrop, we demand the following:
1. We demand that the government fixes liability on responsible officials of GEAC who failed to implement decisions taken in 2010 with regard to confiscation and containment of seeds lying with crop developer and state agriculture universities.
2. We demand that the government immediately swing into action and fix liability on the crop developer and others responsible in a deterrent fashion so that this culture of impunity with regard to leaking of seeds and spreading of illegal cultivation of GMOs towards delivering a fait accompli be addressed decisively, by invoking Sections 15, 16 and 17 of the Environment Protection Act 1986 (punishment with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years with fine which may extent to one lakh rupees, or with both, and in case the failure or contravention continues, with additional fine which may extend to five thousand rupees for every day during which such failure or contravention continues after the conviction for the first such failure or contravention).
3. We demand that MoEFCC now writes to all state governments, under the EPA 1986 Act as well as the 1989 Rules related to GMOs and hazardous micro-organisms, activating the State Biotechnology Coordination Committees (SBCCs), asking them to take up time-bound investigations on brinjal cultivation in their respective states and ascertaining if illegal Bt brinjal cultivation is taking place. The use of simple formats for data collection through frontline department officials and lateral flow strip test kits for preliminary field level testing may be included in the instructions.
4. We demand that MoEFCC, along with Haryana government, take up widespread contamination testing to ascertain contamination if any, from the illegal Bt brinjal cultivation confirmed in the state.
5. Importantly, it is high time that the Bt brinjal biosafety dossier is removed from regulatory records.
Sincerely,
Kavitha Kuruganti
Co-Convenor
Coalition for a GM-Free India
Res. Address: 302, Santhome Apts,
33/1, 1st A Cross, Indiranagar I Stage,
Bengaluru 560038
Mob: +91-8880067772
Copy:
Sh. A K Jain, Chairperson, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India, New Delhi. Email: asaj.moefcc@gov.in
Annexure 1
———- Forwarded message ———
From: sricha <sricha@ias.nic.in>
Date: Wed, 8 May 2019 at 12:54
Subject: Re: Fwd: No response to formal complaint about suspected illegal Bt brinjal cultivation in Haryana
To: Rajinder Chaudhary <rajinderc@gmail.com>
Cc: Tarun Kathula <tk.kathula@gov.in>, A.K. Jain <asaj.moefcc@gov.in>
Sir,
Your email complaint regarding illegal cultivation of Bt Brinjal has been received in the Ministry . Ministry has written to Chief Secretary Haryana , who is the Chairman of the State Biotechnology Coordination Committee , as per the 1989 Rules for Manufacture, Use, Export, Import and Storage of Hazardous micro-organisms /Genetically engineered organisms or cells , to look into the matter and take necessary action after verifying facts on ground , for stopping illegal cultivation of Bt Brinjal.
This Ministry would update you when a report is received from the State Government.
Best Regards
———- Forwarded message ———
From: Rajinder Chaudhary <rajinderc@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 7 May 2019 at 18:27
Subject: Fwd: No response to formal complaint about suspected illegal Bt brinjal cultivation in Haryana
To: <sricha@ias.nic.in>
Ms Richa Sharma, IAS
Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change,Government of India.
Dear Ms Sharma,
We have been asked by the office of AS and Chair, GEAC to contact you.
From the trailing set of mails, you would notice that on 23rd April, 2019 we had posted samples of Bt brinjal being illegally cultivated in Haryana to GEAC, and as per online tracking of India Post the same was delivered to GEAC on 25th April, 2019. In this formal complaint, we had requested the GEAC to share with us email id of a responsible officer with whom we could share identity of the farm where suspected Bt brinjal is being cultivated. We had to do suggest this route to information sharing so that someone could be held responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the information.
However, to our dismay, till this date, GEAC has not got in touch with us to find out the farm location. This is in spite of the fact that on 30th April, 2019 we had sent a reminder mail too. So, to the best of our information, GEAC has taken no action even when it was brought to its notice that Bt brinjal is being cultivated without mandatory approvals or rather in spite of indefinite moratorium placed on it by Govt of India/your ministry.
Now, we have been asked to contact you. Therefor kindly let us know what action has been taken on our complaint and what steps have been taken to control the damage caused by illegal cultivation of Bt brinjal. Hopefully sample sent by us would have been tested. We would also like to get the lab report.
On behalf of Farmers’ and Consumers’ organizations and Scientists
Inderjeet Singh, Vice-President, All India Kisan Sabha, Haryana
Badrinarayan Chowdhary, Rashtriya Mahamantri, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh
Gurnam Singh, President BKU Haryana
Abhimanyu Kohar, National Spokesperson, Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh
Sukhdev Bhopal, Khetibari Kisan Vikas Front, Punjab
Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary, BKU Ekta Dakunda, Punjab
BS Bhayan, Dr Surender Dalal Keet Saksharta Mission, Haryana
Reeta Kohli, Sr Advocate , Alliance for Safe Food Punjab Chandigarh
Dr Mahaveer Narwal, Retd Professor, CCS HAU, Haryana
Umendra Dutt, Kheti Virasat Mission, Punjab
Rajinder Chaudhary for Kudarti Kheti Abhiyan, Haryana
Rajinder Chaudhary,
Former Professor, Department of Economics,M. D. University, Rohtak (Haryana) 124001 &
Advisor, Kudarti Kheti Abhiyan, Haryana
Residence:# 904, Lane opposite Vaish Public School, Sector 3, Rohtak 124001 (Haryana)
Ph: 09416182061
———- Forwarded message ———
From: Rajinder Chaudhary <rajinderc@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2019 at 21:31
Subject: No response to formal complaint about suspected illegal Bt brinjal cultivation in Haryana
To: <asaj.moefcc@gov.in>
Cc: <cm.krishna@gov.in>, <sujata@nic.in>
Sh AK Jain,
Chairperson,
Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC),
Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change,Government of India.
Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Aliganj Road, Jorbagh, New Delhi, Delhi 110003
Dear Sir,
Vide trailing mail as well as hard copy complaint which was delivered to your office on April 25, 2019, on behalf of various farmers’ and consumers’ organisations and scientists we had brought to your notice that it was suspected that Bt brinjal was being illegally grown in Haryana. We had also sent you brinjal which on lateral strip test had shown presence of Cry 1AC.
However, till date we are yet to hear from you. This is in spite of the fact that in our earlier communication with you we had mentioned that “We will share the location details of the standing Bt brinjal crop separately once you provide us phone number and/or email id of a responsible officer who you will hold responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the information. We request you to contact us IMMEDIATELY for location details”. However, till date you have not contacted us for location details of farm from which suspected Bt brinjal was collected. This raises a big question mark on the functioning of the regulatory regime of GMOs of which you are meant to be apex authority.
We again request you to intimate the email id of an officer who you will hold responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the information and with whom we would share the details of farm location. In this regard you could contact us at rajinderc@gmail.com or kavitakuruganti@gmail.com.
It is imperative that GEAC acts immediately to contain the spread of illegal Bt brinjal. Hope you will act without any further delay.
Sincerely,
On behalf of Farmers’ and Consumers’ organizations and Scientists
Rajinder Chaudhary,
Former Professor, Department of Economics,M. D. University, Rohtak (Haryana) 124001 &
Advisor, Kudarti Kheti Abhiyan, Haryana
Residence:# 904, Lane opposite Vaish Public School, Sector 3, Rohtak 124001 (Haryana)
Ph: 09416182061
On Wed, 24 Apr 2019 at 09:53, Rajinder Chaudhary <rajinderc@gmail.com> wrote:
To
Sh AK Jain,
Chairperson,
Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC),
Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change,Government of India.
Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Aliganj Road, Jorbagh, New Delhi, Delhi 110003
24-04-2019
Dear Sir,
Sub: Formal complaint about suspected illegal Bt brinjal cultivation in Haryana – urgent investigation and legal action to be initiated by GEAC – reg.
Greetings! This is to alert the GEAC to the urgent matter of suspected illegal Bt brinjal cultivation in Haryana and lodge a formal complaint about the same. Hard copy of this letter along with sample and photographs has been sent to you vide speed post EH745102091IN dated 23rd April 2019.
Based on a tip-off received about the possible illegal cultivation of Bt brinjal in the field of a farmer, sample from the said farm was collected. A preliminary lateral flow strip test was conducted using the kit produced by DesiGen which showed a positive result of the suspected sample being transgenic with Bt Cry1AC (we are attaching the copy of photograph of the samples and the strip test result). While we have sent a sample to a private testing laboratory for further confirmation, one sample is being sent to you along with the hard copy of the letter for necessary action at your end.
We will share the location details of the standing Bt brinjal crop separately once you provide us phone number and/or email id of a responsible officer who you will hold responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the information. We request you to contact us IMMEDIATELY for location details.
We demand that GEAC immediately investigate this case and take legal action against the source of supply of these seeds in India. In addition to finding out the full extent of cultivation and action against entire seed/seedling supply network of illegal Bt brinjal, we also demand the destruction of all Bt brinjal plots.However, simultaneously we demand that no penal action should be taken against farmers who have been duped into cultivating these illegal seeds. Rather, farmers must be fully compensated for destruction of their standing crop.
We hope that GEAC will immediately take necessary steps to nip in the bud the supply of this illegal seed and ensure that all such Bt brinjal is completely destroyed. We also hope that not only receipt of this letter and sample would be acknowledged; we would also be kept informed of the further action taken in this regard
For any further information, please contact us at: rajinderc@gmail.com or kavitakuruganti@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
On behalf of Farmers’ and Consumers’ organizations and Scientists
Inderjeet Singh, Vice-President, All India Kisan Sabha, Haryana
Badrinarayan Chowdhary, Rashtriya Mahamantri, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh
Gurnam Singh, President BKU Haryana
Abhimanyu Kohar, National Spokesperson, Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh
Sukhdev Bhopal, Khetibari Kisan Vikas Front, Punjab
Jagmohan Singh, General Secretary, BKU Ekta Dakunda, Punjab
BS Bhayan, Dr Surender Dalal Keet Saksharta Mission, Haryana
Reeta Kohli, Sr Advocate , Alliance for Safe Food Punjab Chandigarh
Dr Mahaveer Narwal, Retd Professor, CCS HAU, Haryana
Umendra Dutt, Kheti Virasat Mission, Punjab
Rajinder Chaudhary for Kudarti Kheti Abhiyan, Haryana
Postal Address: Prof Rajinder Chaudhary # 904, Lane opposite Vaish Public School, Sector 3, Rohtak 124001 (Haryana)
Rajinder Chaudhary,
Former Professor, Department of Economics,M. D. University, Rohtak (Haryana) 124001 &
Advisor, Kudarti Kheti Abhiyan, Haryana
Residence:# 904, Lane opposite Vaish Public School, Sector 3, Rohtak 124001 (Haryana)
Ph: 09416182061
———- Forwarded message ———
From: Sujata Arora <sujata@nic.in>
Date: Wed, 1 May 2019 at 06:37
Subject: Re: No response to formal complaint about suspected illegal Bt brinjal cultivation in Haryana
To: Rajinder Chaudhary <rajinderc@gmail.com>
Cc: <asaj.moefcc@gov.in>, <sricha@ias.nic.in>
Matters relating to Biosafety are now being dealt with in the Ministry by my colleague, Ms Richa Sharma, Joint Secretary, who has been copied on this email.
Regards,
Dr Sujata Arora
Adviser
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Government of India
Sent from my iPad
ANNEXURE 2
— On Thu, 11/2/10, Kavitha Kuruganti <kavitha_kuruganti@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Kavitha Kuruganti <kavitha_kuruganti@yahoo.com>
Subject: Immediate confiscation & destruction of Bt Brinjal seed stock
To: warrier@nic.in
Cc: jairam54@gmail.com
Date: Thursday, 11 February, 2010, 16:08
Dear Dr Warrier,
Greetings!
On three occasions in the past few years, Bt Brinjal’s crop developer Mahyco has been allowed to take up experimental seed production – on August 30th 2007, on January 31st 2008 and June 10th 2008.
In fact, a perusal of the ECI report in August 2007 or the 79th meeting of the GEAC does not show any express permission for seed production though this was allowed on August 30th 2007; Similarly, it is not clear where the January 31st 2008 permission emerged from, given that the 82nd GEAC meeting on 11th January 2008 does not reflect this decision.
Be that as it may, attached is a letter from representatives of many civil society groups requesting GEAC to immediately take stock of how much seed was produced (the minutes do not reflect the information on how many acres of production was permitted), what happened to the same, confiscate all such seed stock and planting material immediately and destroy the same in the presence of an independent observer.
We also demand that the GEAC immediately notify a liability clause on the crop developer that it will be solely liable (penalty, redressal and remediation clauses to be part of this) for any leakage or contamination that could happen during the moratorium period. This is the only way to prevent the kind of contamination and illegal cultivation that one has witnessed with the 2001 Bt Cotton illegal cultivation in Gujarat or the HT Cotton fiasco now.
We also demand that no open air trials be allowed during the moratorium period.
Thank you.
kavitha
======================================================
Kavitha Kuruganti
KHETI VIRASAT MISSION
JAITU-151202
District-Faridkot, Punjab.
Phone: +91-9393001550
www.indiagminfo.org
=======================================================
To
February 11, 2010
Dr Ranjini Warrier,
Director and Member Secretary,
Genetic Engineering Approval Committee,
Ministry of Environment & Forests,
Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi 3.
Dear Dr Warrier,
Sub: Immediate confiscation & destruction of all Bt Brinjal planting material & liability clause to be imposed on crop developer
Greetings! As the Government of India had imposed a moratorium on the release of Bt Brinjal, it becomes important and urgent to immediately confiscate all seed stock from the crop developer Mahyco and its consortium partners (UAS-Dharwad and TNAU-Coimbatore) immediately before any intentional or accidental leakage or contamination happens. Past experience with Bt Cotton and HT Cotton demonstrates very clearly that regulatory capabilities to take care of such untoward leakage and contamination is extremely low and the way to prevent it is immediate confiscation and destruction of all physical planting material (seeds, seedlings etc.).
Further, a notification or order be issued with a liability clause fixed on the crop developer that the crop developer will be held solely liable for any leakage or contamination during the period of moratorium. Such a liability should include penal clauses and redressal and remediation clauses too, as required. This should be done immediately.
Further, no open air trials should be permitted in the moratorium period to avoid any potential contamination.
These measures should be taken up also keeping in mind the industry strategy now seen in various parts of the world of “contaminate first, regulate or approve later”.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Sd/- by the signatories below.
Cc: Hon’ble Minister for Environment & Forests, Govt of India.
Afsar H Jafri, Focus on the Global South-India, New Delhi
Arun Ambatipudi, Chetna Organic Farmers Association, Hyderabad
Arun V, The Forest Way, Tiruvannamalai
Aruna Kalahasti, Bhoomi Network, Bangalore
Bharat Mansata, Vision Acre/Van Vadi, Maharashtra
C R Jayaprakash, Nilgiris Wildlife & Environmental Association, Coimbatore
C.Elumalai, Rural People’s Sangam, Tiruvannamalai
David Amalanadane, Pharmacist, Tamil Nadu
Deepika Kundaji, organic farmer and seed saver, Auroville
Dilnavaz Variava, Sahayak Trust, Mumbai
Dr G Sivaraman, Safe Food Alliance, Tamil Nadu
Dr G V Ramanjaneyulu, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Hyderabad
Dr John Devavaram, Resource Center for Participatory Development Studies, Madurai
Dr Mira Shiva, Initiative for Health, Equity & Society and All India Drug Action Network
Dr Parveen Amanullah, social activist, Patna
Dr Radha Gopalan, Rishi Valley Education Centre, Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh
Dr Ramadhar (IAS), Former Chair, Bihar State Farmers’ Commission, Patna
Dr Shreeram Padmadeo, Biotechnologist, Patna University
Dr Sundaramurthy Thimmaiah, Agriculture scientist, Coimbatore
Ganadhalu Srikanta, Journalist, Bangalore
George Kutty, Bangalore Film Society
Jagannath Chatterjee, Living Farms, Orissa
Kapil Shah, Jatan Trust, Vadodara
Kavitha Kuruganti, Kheti Virasat Mission, Punjab
Kiran Kumar Vissa, Association for India’s Development (AID-India), Hyderabad
Krishna Prasad, Sahaja Samruddha, Karnataka
Kumar Vaidyalingam, GREDS, Cuddalore
Lakshmi Devi Nair, Consumer, Bangalore
Lavanya Devdas, AID-Bangalore
M S Kombe, Dharamitra, Wardha
M Shajudeen, Green Youth Foundation, Coimbatore
Madhusudan Venkatesh, concerned citizen, Bangalore
Nayani Nasa, Youth for Safe Food, New Delhi
Nidhi Kaushik, CECOEDECON, Rajasthan
Nirali Shah, Ahmedabad
Pankaj Bhushan, GM-Free Bihar Movement
Prakash H R, ARTIC, Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh
Preeti Patil, Vidya Varadhi Trust, Mumbai
R Santhanam, Tamil Nadu
Ramasubramanian, SAMANVAYA, Chennai
Samprati Gada, Interior Designer, Mumbai
Sandhya Nair, concerned citizen
Sangita Sharma, Annadana Soil & Seed Savers Network, Bangalore
Selva Ganapathy, AID-Delhi, New Delhi
Selvam Ramasamy, Tamil Nadu Organic Farmers’ Association, Tamil Nadu
Sheelu Francis, Tamil Nadu Women’s Collective, Chennai
Shrawan Singhal, PhD Student, Austin, USA
Shyam Ghate, CAPCON, Thane
Suma Josson, Independent film maker, Mumbai
Suresh Gupta, Environment expert, Muzaffarpur
T P Raghunath, Pondicherry Science Forum
Tejal V. and Vishweshwar Mathur, concerned citizens, Mumbai
Usha S, Thanal, Trivandrum
Utkarsh Sinha, Centre for Contemporary Studies & Research, Lucknow
Vanaja Ramprasad, Green Foundation, Karnataka
Vijay Karthik, IT professional, Bangalore
Vinita Mansata, EarthCare Books, Kolkata
Yudhvir Singh, Convenor, Coordination Committee of Indian Farmers’ Movement, Delhi
—
Coalition for a GM-free India
Website: www.indiagminfo.org, email : indiagmfree@gmail.com, Facebook page – GM Watch India