Basmati issue rocks Parliament

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Basmati issue rocks Parliament

 

 

By Our Special Correspondent

 

NEW DELHI, AUG. 21. The granting of a patent on Basmati rice to an

American company by the U.S. Patent Office sparked considerable heat

in both the Houses of Parliament today.

 

The Lok Sabha saw the customary trooping into the well by the

Opposition members forcing an adjournment. In the Rajya Sabha, the

Minister of State for Commerce, Mr. Digvijay Singh, was pinned by

members from both sides till the Chairman, Mr. Krishan Kant, relieved

him of the ordeal by directing the Government to make a statement

later in the week.

 

In the Lok Sabha, trouble began as soon as the House assembled. The

Samajwadi Party members, led by Mr. Akhilesh Singh and Mr. Ramji Lal

Suman, entered the well and urged the Speaker, Mr. G. M. C. Balayogi,

to put off the official business and take up the adjournment notice.

But the Speaker refused and urged them to raise the issue during zero

hour.

 

The SP members were, however, unrelenting and accused the Government

of bartering away the country's interests and caving into pressure

from certain countries. Amid slogan-shouting against the Government,

the House was adjourned till after lunch. Order was restored after

the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, assured the

members that their concerns would be taken into account and that the

Commerce Minister might make a statement in the House tomorrow.

 

In the Rajya Sabha, events took a different course with Mr. Digvijay

Singh being frequently corrected during question hour. He began by

asserting that India would have legal rights over Basmati after the

Parliamentary Select Committee vetted the rules for the Geographical

Indication Act. He also maintained that the grant of Basmati patent

to a company in the U.S. would not affect indigenous Basmati

cultivation and exports.

 

This observation led Mr. Balbir Punj (BJP) to wonder about the

quality of homework done by the Minister. ``The Minister has claimed

that our losing the Basmati case will have no bearing on exports. If

it has no bearing on exports, why should we fight the case?''

 

To this, Mr. Singh sought refuge in officialese. ``We are obtaining

confirmation of the report... At this stage, we do not visualise any

effect on the export of Basmati... We have not lost the case. No

formal information has come to the Government.''

 

It was left to Mr. Kapil Sibal (Congress) to correct the Minister.

``It is not a question of losing the case. The U.S. has granted a

patent to a variety of Basmati rice, which is being produced by a

particular company. So the question of winning or losing does not

arise. We ought to have opposed the grant of the patent,'' he said.

 

Mr. Sibal also said that while Indian Basmati could be exported to

rest of the world, there could be problems when it was dispatched to

the U.S. because a company there had received a patent. As a result,

there might be a ban on imports in the U.S. This would necessitate

the Indian Government to move the U.S. Patent Office to lift the

grant of patent to that company. ``When will you do that?'' he asked.

 

Mr. Singh again took comfort in his stock reply. ``We will do that

when the Geographical Indication Act comes from the Select

Committee.'' Mr. Sibal again said this legislation had no bearing on

the issue at hand. ``At least register the patent of Basmati in the

U.S. You do not even have the patent for Indian Basmati,'' he stated.

 

Mr. Pranab Kumar Mukherjee (Congress) also felt that since the issue

was too important to be tackled in this manner, the Minister should

prepare a statement analysing all the implications. Mr. Singh's

grilling ended after Mr. Krishan Kant asked the Government to make a

measured statement on the issue.