Ban Glyphosate In India: Heres How A Petition Changed Pesticide Usage Pattern Which Impacted Thousands Of Lives

Image Credits: Change.Org 

The Logical Indian Crew

'Ban Glyphosate In India': Here's How A Petition Changed Pesticide Usage Pattern Which Impacted Thousands Of Lives

A Change.org petition sheds light on how a WHO-enlisted carcinogenic pesticide continues to be sprayed on the country's farms and poses a threat to farmers and many others. Creating momentum around the same, the petition has now been picked up by official authorities.

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Dr Ashwani Mahajan, National Co-Convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, had recently taken to social media platforms and media houses to express the success of their petition #BanGlyphosateInIndia. The petition was a request extended to the Prime Minister of India, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, and a few others to look into restricting the usage of glyphosate in the country.

Stating the many harms it has caused to the land and people, the petition garnered over 2,00,000 supporters and grabbed the attention of responsible officials. Taking action upon it, the Ministry issued a notification in October 2022 that stated, "the use of Glyphosate is hereby restricted, and no person shall use Glyphosate except Pest Control Operators."

A small initiative undertaken by a group of people to take the message about a hazardous herbicide to the public, found its success and is now creating ripples of change in the country.

A Petition To Make Change

Ashwani Mahajan, on behalf of Swadeshi Jagran Manch, started an online petition via Change.org demanding the ban of herbicide and crop desiccant glyphosate. Writing about the drastic impact it has had on lives and livelihoods; the petition takes the reader through the many villages in India that have faced tragic losses due to the chemical. A remote village in the Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh saw ten deaths over three to four years, initially attributed to natural causes. After a point in time, people began tracing a peculiar pattern in the reported deaths.

All the victims complained of lumps on their necks and other body parts that were later diagnosed as cancerous tumours. As the death toll kept rising, villagers began taking notice and traced their symptoms back to exposure to glyphosate, which is sold under the name of RoundUp or Glycol. It was a weedkiller commonly used on tea plantations, rice fields, and even home gardens. However, it also impacted the humans who had come in contact with it besides the weeds. This was not an isolated case in UP and was something that was reflected in every state and around the world.

Taking due notice of this global concern, the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed in 2015 that glyphosate is carcinogenic and could also cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma and DNA and chromosomal damage. Soon after the announcement, many countries banned the chemical on an emergency basis, and several manufacturing companies were asked to pay compensation to people who had suffered due to the herbicide.

India Taking A Step Ahead

In India, Punjab took the lead and banned the chemical in 2018. Following the suit, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana banned glyphosate. However, a nationwide ban still needed to be implemented. So, while Kerala, a major tea-growing state, moved to ban glyphosate, another tea-growing state of West Bengal restricted its use in only six tea-growing districts.

The petitioners were of the opinion that the majority of Indian farmers were not aware of the hazards of glyphosate and preferred to use it for its cost-effectiveness. This ignorance then gets monetised effectively by the pesticide companies, who send their agents to sell it to the farmers at attractive promotional prices.

In an attempt to take this message to the crowds, they started the petition requesting the PM to impose a nationwide ban on the chemical and save many lives. The petition was submitted to the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar after it had received over two lakh two thousand signatures. Based on it and other supporting studies conducted, the government decided to enforce a law that makes it illegal to use glyphosate and its derivatives in certain areas, namely crop regions.

As per the notice issued on September 2022, glyphosate can be used only in tea gardens and non-crop areas. Additionally, in regard to the parts where they are permitted, they can only be used by registered Pest Control Operators (PCOs).

Even though there has not been a complete ban on the chemical, its usage has been effectively limited to only registered PCOs, meaning no direct sale can be made to the farmers and others. Furthermore, the notification also states, "All holders of certificate of registration granted for Glyphosate and its derivatives shall return the certificate of registration to the Registration Committee for incorporation of the warning in bold letter 'The Use of Glyphosate formulation to be allowed through pest control operators,' on the label and leaflets." This would build a general awareness surrounding its usage and ensure the safety of a good share of citizens.

Also Read: My Story: 'There Were Very Little Facilities Available For People With Disabilities Like Me, So I Decided To Change That'

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Writer : Laxmi Mohan Kumar
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Editor : Shiva Chaudhary
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Creatives : Laxmi Mohan Kumar

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