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Bt cotton: 'Health Ministry not consulted'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI APRIL 8. The controversy over the recent decision to allow commercial cultivation of Bt cotton today took a new turn with the Union Health Minister, C.P. Thakur, stating that his Ministry should have been involved more before the decision was taken. "Genetically-modified products could have long-term environmental and health effects. It is essential that the Health Ministry was involved more in such decisions,'' he told The Hindu.

The Health Ministry, he said, proposed to convene soon a conference of experts drawn from agriculture, environment, food processing, science and technology and other Ministries that have a stake in the area of genetically-modified products so that there could be a deeper and more holistic debate on the issue.

Earlier, inaugurating a cardiac catheterisation lab and lithotripsy lab at Safdarjung Hospital here, Dr. Thakur said that in a bid to address the growing problem of cardiovascular disorders, his Ministry has asked the Cardiology Society of India to prepare a set of guidelines on issues such as when one should go for treatment of heart disease.

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