Manmohan Singh kept in dark about Bt cottons role in farmers suicide.

July 2, 2006

(Source: GMWatch) 1.Indian PM fails to address Bt cotton and other critical issuesAccording to a VIDARBHA JANANDOLAN SAMITI press release, the Indian Prime Minister's visit to a remote tribal village in Vidharba was cancelled in order to hide the real conditions faced by poor cotton farmers.The village of Kolzari was the only place where the PM, Dr Manmohan Singh, was to visit cotton growers' homes in order to see the condition of cotton growers who have been committing suicide.Local farmers' leader Kishor Tawari, who has repeatedly drawn attention to the role of Bt cotton in the the crisis facing cotton farmers in Vidarbha, had already been banned from meeting the Prime Minister.Kolzari villagers refused to meet the Indian PM at Yavatmal airport instead. They were replaced in discussions about their problems by "proxy villagers".Kishor Tawari has

described the PM's visit as "survey tourism" and "eyewash".Tiwari has also condemned the PM's package of relief measures for Vidarbha for its failure to address the real problems farmers are facing.The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) makes the same point, as India's national daily paper The Hindu reports, "The Prime Minister only marginally addressed the problem of indebtedness, which was the symptom of a large agrarian crisis, the BJP said. Dr. Singh did not address BT cotton seed-related problems." Package totally inadequate: BJP, The Hindu, July 2 2006)http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/02/stories/2006070207330800.htm "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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