Overview
- The Ministry of Agriculture published a draft notification on Tuesday proposing an immediate nationwide prohibition on paraquat dichloride that would bar its manufacture, import, transport, distribution, sale and use.
- The move follows a government expert committee and the Registration Committee, which cited documented high‑fatality poisoning incidents, the absence of a specific antidote and international restrictions as reasons for recommending a ban.
- Stakeholders have 30 days from publication to submit objections and, if the ban is finalised, all registration certificates for paraquat formulations will be cancelled with manufacturers and dealers required to surrender them within three months.
- Doctors and state governments have linked paraquat to thousands of self‑harm, homicide and accidental deaths and reported misuse such as spraying standing crops before harvest that raises food‑residue and farm‑worker safety concerns.
- The draft aligns India with more than 70 countries that have banned or restricted paraquat, follows major producers’ production changes and could trigger fresh regulatory reviews of other controversial pesticides.