Ramesh meets with protests at first public Bt brinjal discussion

The first public interaction on commercialisation of Bt brinjal,held here on Wednesday,saw loud protests and agitations as Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh interacted with scientists,farmers and various rights organisations.

A report based on public discussions on the genetically modified crop at various places in the country would be finalised by February 5,the minister said. The discussions will be held at Bhubaneswar,Hyderabad,Nagpur,Ahmedabad and Chennai.

West Bengal accounts for nearly 30 per cent of brinjal production in the country.

Ramesh chaired nearly a four-hour discussion,and as the protests turned loud,left his seat to pacify the agitators. He said that had he been an agent of Monsanto,he would not have held public discussions and gone in for commercialisation of Bt brinjal in October,when the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee cleared its cultivation.