Gene theft
It's a scam with a difference. Khem Singh Gill, vice-chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, and a noted wheat-breeder himself, is the target of allegations that PBW 34, a wheat variety he claims to have developed, may actually be India's first instance of gene theft.
R K Batra, president of PAU Teachers' Association (PAUTA), is spearheading the agitation against Gill, contending he merely renamed a strain of wheat that had been developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in Mexico and sent under the name DWL 5046.
Gill's supporters, however, reject the allegation and H S Bajwa, assistant extension specialist at PAU, says in Gill's defence, "The teachers have been agitating on a totally unrelated issue -- the payment of arrears. This agitation, however, has the support of only 200 teachers out of a staff strength of some 1,200. Such statements are common whenever teachers have a complaint against the authorities."
Another senior faculty member at PAU, requesting anonymity, said Gill had been cleared by an enquiry board set up by Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. And Gill, who is in Mexico attending a CIMMYT board meeting, is quoted in a newspaper report as dismissing the allegations as "baseless".