Protect Indian farmers from Monsanto, D Raja plea to PM
Awaiting PM response, says CPI MP MUMBAI: Objecting to the Union Agriculture Ministry’s silence in the ongoing patent case before Division Bench, Delhi High Court, CPI MP D Raja has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene to protect the interests of Indian cotton farmers and check global seed major Monsanto’s bid to “monopolise food security” in India based on this case. “Monsanto, a multi-national company, which believes in monopolising the food security of the world to enhance their profits, has been falsely propagating a myth that they enjoy patent rights on Bt Cotton seeds in India. The eight million Indian cotton farmers have been exploited ever since the launch of Bt Cotton in 2002 by spreading of such myth which it used to jack up seed prices many fold,” Mr Raja said in his letter to Mr Modi. The Indian Parliament, based on representations made by the farmers and members of the civil society, debated at length on the perils of allowing patents on plants or anim...
