To start with.. the full form of BRAI is biotechnology regulatory authority of India. What is its work? It is supposed to regulate and monitor the release of GM crops in our country. Now the question is what is genetically modified food or crop? A crop is to be said genetically modified when its genetic structure(DNA) is slightly modified. The reason for the modification is to gain an important quality which was previously lacking in the plant.
For ex: The Bt cotton was developed to provide resistance against the pests. So the next question is who makes these kind of crops? Many international companies are into this field, one of them being Monsanto. Coming back to BRAI,as its name suggests it is supposed to have a tight regulation and a keen eye over the process of gm crop introduction. We know many of the activists are opposing this bill. But what is the reason?
Firstly, gm crops are said to possess serious threat to the natural gene pool and hence effecting environment. The other reasons for opposing the bill are that the BRAI panel contains majority of members who are in favor of gm crop introduction. Next the government has shown a great hurry to pass this bill without caring for the public participation, Moreover state governments would not have any say in the regulatory committee's decision.
A major flaw is that you cannot use RTI to seek any sort of information about the gm product or its trials. In short, the bill seems to be a promoter rather than a regulator of gm food.
To sum up, may be the effect of transgenic technology is debatable but the framing of the BRAI bill is surely undemocratic. The choice of what I eat is mine not some ministry's. So I think every citizen should be aware of this bill and not allow any bill to bully us.
