BANGALORE: “Granite lobbyist and liquor lobbyist, who are small in number threaten to control the government. While farmers despite in majority are still fighting for their right. There is a need to put an end to this. The Government is aware of this problem,” said Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda.He was speaking at a convention of seed conservator organised here in Bangalore. Southern Action on Genetic Engineering (SAGE), an NGO which has toured around 500 villages in the state, submitted a memorandum to the CM to bring a strict regulations to ban GM crops in the state, here on Sunday. Members of SAGE requested the CM to allot `50 crore for conservation of seeds and said that the Seed Corporation should buy seed from the farmers rather than buying it from farmer and giving it back. They also demanded that a strict regulation should be brought to ban GM and the state should put pressure on the Central Government on this issue. Gowda, who received the memorandum in person, did not promise anything on the issue but said that he will hold a detailed discussion once the MLC polls are over. “Our (BJP) government has opposed BT Brinjal before, similarly it will continue to oppose. We are on your (farmer’s) side. We will frame rules after the detailed discussion with NGOs, along with the department officials,” he said while addressing farmers assembled at the convention. However, when a farmer raised his voice in dissent saying that the government schemes like interest free loans, which the CM mentioned in his speech, hardly reach the farmers, Gowda said that the government would take action against such officials and get the loan sanctioned.
Comments
0 comment