Moratorium on Bt Brinjal justified: Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi, Feb.25 (ANI): Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh on Saturday defended his decision to put a moratorium on Bt Brinjal.

In an interaction with television channel CNN-IBN, Ramesh said no foreign non-government organization had influenced his decision on Genetically Modified (GM) foods, when he was the country's environment minister.

Ramesh said the widespread opposition to GM crops from several states and the lack of public sector backed GM seeds guided his decision.

He said that he arrived at his decision on Bt Brinjal after a seven-month-long process of public consultation with scientists, NGOs, civil society representatives and farmer bodies.

He said he spoke with about 8000 people, wrote to all state chief ministers and to 50 scientists across India and the world on the matter.

He said his position on Bt Brinjal was determined by the positions of state governments and the lack of consensus within the scientific community.

His remarks on Saturday came in response to a question about allegations that some NGOs based in Scandinavian countries funded the protests against Bt Brinjal. (ANI)