Activists, including Jean Dreze and Aruna Roy, have come out in support of environment minister Jairam Ramesh's decision to put on hold Bt Brinjal pending further study.

Interestingly, the support comes amidst growing discontent within the government against Ramesh's decision. The Prime Minister has decided to intervene and has convened a meeting today with his cabinet colleagues Sharad Pawar and Prithviraj Chavan who had opposed Ramesh's decision.

In a letter to Ramesh, the Right to Food Campaign, a network of more than 1,500 non-governmental organisations, have welcomed the  indefinite moratorium on Bt Brinjal. The letter dated February 22 states that the existing evidence raises serious concerns of possible hazards of allowing genetically modified products.

"We recognize that you had set an excellent precedent in undertaking a transparent and democratic decision-making process and in raising the bar for safety assessment and evaluation of such GMOs, by asking for independent scientific studies to the satisfaction of both the public and the professionals to establish safety of the product including long term impact on human health and environment," the letter says.

It adds, "Rigorous, appropriate, transparent and independent scientific testing is necessary, in order to arrive at an understanding as regards safety of GM crops and food products. These procedures were not followed in the case of Bt Brinjal when the GEAC gave permission for its use in India."