1.SC issues notice to Centre on import of GM processed food
2.Eight more Vidarbha farmers' suicide reported on eve of Nagpur legislative assembly session
EXTRACTS: as per Maharashtra Government own survey around two million farming community members are in deep distress... The government has been promoting non-chemical farming on paper but practically they are official agents of US seed MNC Monsanto and promoting Bt. cotton through it's seed cooperation MAHABEEJ. (ITEM 2)
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1.SC issues notice to Centre on import of GM processed food
The Hindu, November 20 2007 http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/015200711200321.htm
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre [the Government of India] on a petition challenging a notification that allows import of Genetically Modified (GM) processed food without any regulatory checks and exempts them from compulsory labelling, a move which is alleged to be against public interests.
A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan sought response from the ministries of environment and forests, food and food processing industries and the Department of Science and Technology on a petition filed by Gene Campaign, the NGO opposed to commercialisation of GM crops without any check.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests notification issued on August 23 this year exempted processed foods derived from living modified organisms from the purview of the Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of Hazardous Micro-organisms/Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells Rules, 1989, the petition stated.
While emphasising that imported foods should be subject to label regulations, Sanjay Parikh, appearing for the petitioner, said such imports should have a certificate of origin indicating GMO status and proof of analysis from certified laboratories.
According to the petitioner, the exemption from mandatory labelling and segregation of GM and non-GM food stuffs would have serious impact on public health and would violate the provisions of the prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.
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2.Eight more Vidarbha farmers' suicide reported on eve of Nagpur legislative assembly session
By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net India News http://www.indianmuslims.info/news/2007/nov/19/eight_more_vidarbha_farmers_suicide_reported_eve_nagpur_legislative_assembly_sessio
Bhopal: When Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was claiming that there is 40 per cent reduction in farm suicides in Vidarbha region on the eve of winter session of the state assembly in Nagpur eight more debt-trapped cotton growing farmers' suicides were reported in last 48 hours. The total toll is now 1051 since January 2007 as against 1448 last year reported by Maharashtra Government.
According to Nagpur-based Kishor Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, (VJAS), The recent national crime data report says that in Vidarbha more than 32000 farmers committed suicides from 2001 to 2005. Hence, the actual figure of farm suicides of Vidarbha in 2006 and 2007 is much more higher than the figure reported.
The eight recent victims of Vidarbha agrarian crisis are: Sahdev Chavan, Shankar Bhabutkar, Ganpat Zoting, Shankar Dhanvij & Anil Jadhav (all five from Yavatmal), Sandeep Jadhav in Amaravati, Pravin Kharapkar in Nagpur and Ayyaram Kaphate in Gondia.
The official Vidarbha farm suicides table is as follows:
Months-2006
Farm suicides
Months-2007
Farm suicides
JANUARY
118
JANUARY
99
FEBRUARY
110
FEBRUARY
107
MARCH
111
MARCH
113
APRIL
89
APRIL
97
MAY
115
MAY
102
JUNE
108
JUNE
82
JULY
109
JULY
75
AUGUST
120
AUGUST
95
SEPTEMBER
156
SEPTEMBER
113
OCTOBER
160
OCTOBER
102
NOVEMBER
125
NOVEMBER
66
DECEMBER
127
Total
1448
1051
Source- http://www.vnss-mission.gov.in/docs/suicide.pdf
After recent trend of farm suicides it appears that most of the farmers belonging to tribal, dalit and banjara community are committing suicides as they are food-starved and in deep distress. Maharashtra Government has been planning to give food security and health services to these 4.3 lakhs distressed farm families identified by administration in May 2006 but corrupt executives are not allowing government to take life-saving decisions, Tiwari added.
After Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has made a move for complete loan waiver as part of distress relieving measure of million of dying Vidarbha farmers and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has also made it clear that they will issue no objection letter to Central govt. for complete loan waiver to Vidarbha cotton farmers. However, in reality nothing is happening as urgent life saving aid is also not reaching dying vidarbha farmers when daily three to four farm suicides are being reported since June 2005.
VJAS has urged all national and international communities and civil societies to come forward to help million of dying Vidarbha farmers as per Maharashtra Government own survey around two million farming community members are in deep distress and need urgent healing touch, Tiwari added.
VJAS has been demanding along with loan waiver and restoration of raw cotton price, food security, health care and rural employment package but Prime Minister's Rs.3750 crore relief package is till missing the same. The government has been promoting non-chemical farming on paper but practically they are official agents of US seed MNC Monsanto and promoting Bt. cotton through it's seed cooperation 'MAHABEEJ, Tiwari alleged in a press release.
'If the government is serious to save Vidarbha dying farmers then it should act fast, Tiwari said,. while reacting on the ongoing delay in the state government's decision to give relief to more than three million dying farmers of Vidarbha. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)