CM's [Chief Minister's] 'organic date' with Charles raises eyebrows
Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service Chandigarh, March 25
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060326/punjab1.htm#3

Punjab CM's double act is being noticed. As he prepares to extend a grand "organic welcome" to the royal guest from the UK, environment activists from the region are keenly watching over the interesting setting where a supporter of GM crops (read the CM) will raise a toast to the staunch critic of the same (read Prince Charles). The Prince may sure get to savour some fine organic meals, but farmers and environmentalists of Punjab can’t help having a bad taste.

Consider the paradox - Capt Amarinder Singh hails the release of Bt Cotton, a GM crop as one of his government’s finest achievements while Prince Charles favours a ban on GM crops. The Prince has been reiterating his dislike for genetically modified produce, besides questioning its long term damages on health and ecology. CM Punjab, on the other hand, has been using public funds to promote the cultivation of Bt Cotton.

It is, however, interesting to see the state government organising some "organic" events that might find favour with the Prince of Wales. Never mind the neglect of biosafety rules in GM crop research in some locations of Punjab and the way some untested GM products are routinely contaminating the supply chain, the government is now rushing to go organic. The best organic farmers of the region have been summoned to exhibit their produce at Patiala where Prince Charles will interact with some. He will then visit some organic farms near Patiala.

While the government works to impress its guest, NGOs that have been campaigning against GM technology, are feeling the pinch. In an open letter to Punjab CM, Umendra Dutt, Executive Director of Kheti Virasat Mission, questions: "If the Prince wants to know what the results of organic agriculture in Punjab are and what the government is doing to support its potential, will the CM have satisfactory answers? Can he say he has laid down regulations related to the spread of GM agriculture and implemented them to protect organic farmers' interests? Can the government say it is aware of the need for bio-safety during research and trials?

It is significant that several recent government advertisements have been carrying CM's photographs to promote Bt cotton. In this context, his "organic" date with Prince Charles seems ironical given the latter’s passion for organic farming. Prince Charles has even been questioning the need for GM agriculture.

Small wonder then that environmentalists have signed an open letter to the CM and told him, "We want to tell the Prince that Punjab is reeling under the adverse effects of the Green Revolution while paying a heavy cost in the form of suicides, cancer and debts. We want to point out that the similarities of GM technologies with pesticides are uncanny and understandable.

But we must not forget that DDT which won Paul Muller a Nobel Prize in 1939 is a banned chemical today. We hope when the CM shows glimpses of rural Punjab to Prince Charles, he will do so with faith in the potential of organic agriculture."

Safe food, after all, is as much a prerogative of masses as of "maharajas."

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