Mahyco, Monsanto officials were put under surveillance

Defying the government, several farmers’ organisations have not only openly bought the seeds but also grown HTBt cotton. Representation pic

Back in 2018, the BJP government that was in power in Maharashtra had set up a special investigation team (SIT) to probe companies allegedly selling or releasing unapproved herbicide-tolerant (HT) transgenic cotton, or Bt cotton, seeds in the state.

The resolution forming the SIT specifically mentioned seed giants like Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Pvt. Ltd, Monsanto Holdings Pvt. Ltd. and Monsanto India Ltd. The SIT was told to inquire into the roles of these companies in the unauthorised production, storage and sale of HTBt cotton seeds with HT transgenic gene. The SIT's report, which was to be submitted within a month, came three years later and was submitted to the state government's agricultural department, reported The Wire, which said it had attempted to contact SIT Chief, Krishna Prakash multiple times for a comment, but he was
unavailable.

A few months before the SIT was formed in October 2017, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) had also set up the Field Inspection and Scientific Evaluation Committee (FISEC), under the Department of Biotechnology, to probe the proliferation of unlawful seeds.

Probe reveals

In 2018, as both probes continued, the phone numbers of six senior officials from Mahyco Monsanto Biotech (India) Pvt. Lt and Monsanto India were selected as possible candidates for surveillance, investigations under the Pegasus Project have revealed. A senior government official and scientist at the Department of Biotechnology, who was involved with FISEC, was also of interest to an unidentified Indian client of the NSO group, The Wire reported.

Their numbers form a part of a leaked database of more than 50,000 numbers worldwide that the French media non-profit Forbidden Stories accessed and shared with an international media consortium of 17 organisations as part of the Pegasus Project. As per pre-publication statements given to the consortium, the NSO Group has disputed the list's authenticity, saying it has nothing to do with the company. The Wire and other Pegasus Project media partners have noted that only a technical examination of a phone's data could establish whether an attempt was made to hack. The Mahyco and Monsanto employees, who were of interest to an India-focused client, include senior officials, researchers and scientists working with the two companies.

In India, research into genetically modified (GM) crops takes place in a vitiated atmosphere. Bureaucratic control smothers scientific efforts while some prominent anti-GM activists have been accused of spreading pseudoscience.

Searches and raids

Over the past six years, Maharashtra has seen a huge rise in the usage of Bt seeds with the HT transgenic gene, which are easily available and accessible to farmers. However, the BJP government and the RSS have advocated against the use of these cotton seeds.

Over the years, the companies have also faced searches and raids in the godowns of their storage units.

A senior Monsanto official, who was engaging in talks with the government in 2018, was chosen as a potential Pegasus target in mid-2018. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official told The Wire that their job was to speak to different stakeholders, explaining the company's work.

"Regardless of which party was in power, my work entailed participating in meetings and talking to different stakeholders of the government. While doing this, I would come across all kinds of people," the person said.

The senior official, who is no longer associated with Monsanto, said that the news of surveillance has both "amused and scared" them.

All the researchers and officials currently employed in the company were contacted but they declined to speak on why they might have been seen as possible candidates for snooping.

The senior official and scientist, who was involved with FISEC, said, "I am surprised to know that even I could have been under surveillance. I have no idea why. The FISEC was mainly what I was working on at the time and the seeds business is complicated. Both the government and the companies play a dirty game."

The report, which was submitted to the PMO, gave a clean chit to Mahyco. A Mint report from the time says that the FISEC report concluded that "there has been no deliberate release" of the HTBt seeds into the market by Mahyco.

However, the report is yet to be made public. An official from the seeds industry and who was also involved in the FISEC, said that the report not being public is cause for speculation.

"We don't know how they reached the conclusion that Mahyco is not providing the HTBt seeds. They never explained it," the official said.

Farmers defy government

Defying the government, several farmers' organisations have not only openly bought the seeds but also grown HTBt cotton, a third generation GMO developed by Bayer/Monsanto.

The FISEC estimate states that more than 15 per cent of the total cotton production in major cotton-growing states is of the HTBt variety, which doesn't have government approval. According to experts, more than 50 lakh packets of the HTBt variety (of 450 gm each) could be in circulation.

Lalit Patil Bahale, executive president of the farmers' organisation Shetkari Sanghatana, told The Wire that seeds have been made available through "safe channels" into the market. His organisation, which has been at loggerheads with the government, said many farmers' organisations have decided to sow the HTBt variant.

Agitations held by the Shetkari Sanghatana have led to two FIRs being filed in the state against farmers' groups sowing the HTBt seeds. The organisation criticised the police action and called the government "anti-farmer".

Both Mahyco and Monsanto (now Bayer) have said that they have not indulged in any illegal production/sales/release of HTBt seeds.

2017
Year the PMO set up the FISEC