<p> <br />The Union Ministry of Environment has sought the opinion of six chief ministers besides close to 50 scientists from the UK, USA, Australia, France and India on Bt brinjal. <br />Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh will start his seven-city tour from next week where public opinion on Bt brinjal would be sought. The first public meeting will be in Kolkata on January 13. In Bangalore it will be on January 23. <br /><br />The Environment Ministry expects all feedbacks by the first week of February, following which its stand on Bt brinjal will be conveyed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will take the final decision. <br /><br />The tenor on the rethinking on Bt brinjal was set by the prime minister himself when he cautioned that “genetic modification in food crops raises legitimate questions on safety.”<br /><br />The safety concerns must be given “full weightage” with “appropriate regulatory control based on strictly scientific criterion,” he said inaugurating the 97th session of Indian Science Congress on Sunday here.</p>
<p> <br />The Union Ministry of Environment has sought the opinion of six chief ministers besides close to 50 scientists from the UK, USA, Australia, France and India on Bt brinjal. <br />Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh will start his seven-city tour from next week where public opinion on Bt brinjal would be sought. The first public meeting will be in Kolkata on January 13. In Bangalore it will be on January 23. <br /><br />The Environment Ministry expects all feedbacks by the first week of February, following which its stand on Bt brinjal will be conveyed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will take the final decision. <br /><br />The tenor on the rethinking on Bt brinjal was set by the prime minister himself when he cautioned that “genetic modification in food crops raises legitimate questions on safety.”<br /><br />The safety concerns must be given “full weightage” with “appropriate regulatory control based on strictly scientific criterion,” he said inaugurating the 97th session of Indian Science Congress on Sunday here.</p>
