Friday, July 29, 2005

Mind your millets

One of these days, I'm going to look for the guy who drafts our laws.

For instance, look at section 29 (1) of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001 (passed by both houses of parliament but, for reasons best known to the government, not yet notified).

It says,
"Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, no registration of a variety shall be made under this Act in cases where prevention of commercial exploitation of such variety is necessary to protect public order or public morality or human, animal and plant life and health or to avoid serious prejudice to the environment...."

I would especially like to meet the guy who put the above clause about 'public order or public morality' into the text of the law. And I'd also like to meet all those veteran parliamentarians who did not fall off their chairs laughing, at the idea.

How a plant variety could offend anybody's morals is completely beyond me.

Unless some seed manufacturing company wants to name a variety 'Orgy Millets'. Or imagine a poor farmer coming up with something more desi, like 'Kunwari Dhaan'?
(Actually, that might be a lot of fun, no? This is one issue I'd love to write about... can't wait to see how many farmers are willing to get naughty with plant nomenclature.)

5 comments:

J. Alfred Prufrock said...

Perhaps they mean ganja? Or stronger, perhaps hallucinogenic stuff?

J.A.P.

gawker said...

maybe a phallus-shaped ear of corn?

Annie Zaidi said...

Prufrock, as far as I know opium cultivation isn't illegal in this country. Licences are given out... if the law allows you to grow a plant that has, traditionally, been used as a narcotic - yes, yes, there are medicinal uses too - why should it have a problem with the variety being officially registered?

And I'm thinking, how about compiling a list of potentially morally-offensive plants, eh? What should they be called?

Vikram said...

so basically, kids can argue with their mothers that milk and wheat(in roti form) and other vegetables threaten their morals and thus they shouldn't have to eat them!

Anonymous said...

Lord Datta... why don't you keep your absurd sermons on your own blog instead of inflicting them on unsuspecting readers.

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