IN a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on April 25 the Swadeshi Jagran Manch demanded ban on Endosulfan, a pesticide infamous for its high toxicity, which is highly dangerous for humans, in the forthcoming Stockholm Convention.
“Swadeshi Jagran Manch understands that Endosulfan is banned in more than 63 countries, including the European Union, Australia and New Zealand, and other Asian and West African nations, and being phased out in the United States, Brazil and Canada. You would share this view point of SJM that use of chemical pesticides is not good for humanity at large. At present it is being used as a necessary evil due to absence of alternative to the use of chemical pesticides. The only alternative possible for the present dependence on chemical pesticides is the organic farming. We appreciate whatever little efforts are being made by the government for promotion of organic farming. But you will appreciate that these efforts are too little to make any dent on prevalent agro practices, as promoted by the government in the past. I take this opportunity to request you to make result-oriented efforts in this direction,” SJM spokesperson Dr Ashwini Mahajan said in the letter.
