UNION agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is rooting for endosulfan just before the fifth Conference of Parties (COP) of the Stockholm Convention meets in Geneva in April-end to decide the fate of the pesticide.
There seems to be a pattern in Pawar’s resistance to banning endosulfan. Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on February 22, the minister misled the House and said many states did not want a ban on the pesticide.
Pawar reiterated his inability to ban at a meeting with National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) officials in Delhi on April 19. He contends there are no studies to prove that endosulfan is harmful. Eighty-one countries have either banned it or are in the process of banning it. In India, Kerala and Karnataka have banned it. But Pawar argues there is no scientific basis for actions recommended on endosulfan by the Stockholm Convention. “We fail to understand his logic,” an NHRC statement says.
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