Chrysotile asbestos: Chemicals Ministry hostage to NIOH's old, 'discredited' study

By Gopal Krishna*
How can India's Ministry of Chemicals and the Ministry of Health take contrary positions at the United Nations (UN) on all kinds of asbestos including hazardous chrysotile asbestos when both ministries are headed by the same minister, Mansukh Mandaviya?
UN's Tenth Conference of Parties to Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for hazardous chemicals in International Trade which is underway in Geneva is considering listing of chrysotile asbestos in the PIC list of hazardous chemicals in compliance with the recommendations of the Chemical Review Committee.
But Indian Ministry of Chemicals remains hostage to an old discredited conflict of interest ridden study co-sponsored by Chemicals Ministry and chrysotile asbestos companies. Even this study does not say that chrysotile asbestos is non-hazardous. This dubious made-to-order study by the Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), a unit of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on chrysotile asbestos belittles India's stature among the world's scientific community.

Notably, this made-to-order study is proudly published on the websites of chrysotile asbestos industry association and the Ministry of Chemicals in total regard of what the World Health Organisation (WHO), the National Health Portal (NHP) and the Supreme Court of India is saying about chrysotile asbestos. The text articulating the position of ministry of health is attached.
There is a logic compulsion for India to support listing of chrysotile asbestos in the PIC list of hazardous chemicals because India's new Occupational Safety Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 recognises hazardous nature of all kinds of asbestos including the chrysotile asbestos and the diseases caused by it.
Having banned mining of all kinds of asbestos, having banned trade in asbestos waste (dust and fibers), having banned asbestos in talcum powder, having decided to make over 7,000 railway stations asbestos free and having outlawed use of asbestos in ships, it is high time India made it's position consistent with the recommendations of Chemical Review Committee, WHO and International Labour Organisation (ILO).
----
*LL.M, PhD, with Ban Asbestos Network of India (BANI)

Comments

Gujarat's high profile GIFT city 'fails to attract' funds, India's FinTech investment dips

By Rajiv Shah While the Narendra Modi government may have gone out of the way to promote the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), sought to be developed as India’s formidable financial technology hub off the state capital Gandhinagar, just 20 km from Ahmedabad, a recent report , prepared by Tracxn Technologies suggests that neither of the two cities figure in the list of top FinTech funding receiving centres.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah* The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

Why Ramdev, vaccine producing pharma companies and government are all at fault

By Colin Gonsalves* It was perhaps Ramdev’s closeness to government which made him over-confident. According to reports he promoted a cure for Covid, thus directly contravening various provisions of The Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954. Persons convicted of such offences may not get away with a mere apology and would suffer imprisonment.

Malayalam movie Aadujeevitham: Unrealistic, disservice to pastoralists

By Rosamma Thomas* The Malayalam movie 'Aadujeevitham' (Goat Life), currently screening in movie theatres in Kerala, has received positive reviews and was featured also on the website of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The story is based on a 2008 novel by Benyamin, and relates the real-life story of a job-seeker from Kerala tricked into working in slave conditions in a goat farm in Saudi Arabia.

Decade long Modi rule 'undermines' people's welfare and democracy

By Ram Puniyani* Modi has many ploys up his sleeves when it comes to propaganda. On one hand he is turning many a pronouncements of Congress in the communal direction, on the other he is claiming that whatever has been achieved during last ten years of his rule is phenomenal, but it is still a ‘trailer’ and the bigger things are in the offing as he claims to be coming to power yet again in 2024. While his admirers are ga ga about his achievements, the truth lies somewhere else.

Belgian report alleges MNC Etex responsible for asbestos pollution in Madhya Pradesh town Kymore: COP's Geneva meet

By Our Representative A comprehensive Belgian report has held MNC Etex , into construction business and one of the richest, responsible for asbestos pollution in Kymore, an industrial town in in Katni district of Madhya Pradesh. The report provides evidence from the ground on how Kymore’s dust even today is “annoying… it creeps into your clothes, you have to cough it”, saying “It can be deadly.”

Plagued by opportunism, adventurism, tailism, Left 'doesn't matter' in India

By Harsh Thakor* 2024 elections are starting when India appears to be on the verge of turning proto-fascist. The Hindutva saffron brigade has penetrated in every sphere of Indian life, every social order, destroying and undermining the very fabric of the Constitution.

Can universal basic income help usher in sustainable egalitarianism in India?

By Prof RR Prasad* The ongoing debate on application of Article 39(b) in the Supreme Court on redistribution of community material resources to subserve common good and for ushering in an egalitarian society has opened new vistas wherein possible available alternative solutions could be explored.

Press freedom? 28 journalists killed since 2014, nine currently in jail

By Kirity Roy* On the eve of the Press Freedom Day on 3rd of May, the Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM) shared its anxiety with the broader civil society platforms as the situation of freedom of any form of expression became grimmer in India day by day. This day was intended to raise awareness on the importance of freedom of press and to pay tribute to pressmen who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Ahmedabad's Muslim ghetto voters 'denied' right to exercise franchise?

By Tanushree Gangopadhyay* Sections of Gujarat Muslims, with a population of 10 per cent of the State, have been allegedly denied their rights to exercise their franchise in the Juhapura area of Ahmedabad.

Search This Blog