We at Gene Campaign are aware that goals, especially in new and controversial areas, may not be achieved at one go. We are aware that the issue is really a struggle for political and economic control of the world's genetic resources since these are the raw material of the strongest, most dominating economic sector of tomorrow: Biotechnology.

We are unmoved by the argument that it is too late to do anything, that governments have succumbed, that GATT/WTO has been accepted and that the game has been lost. We believe this is a long drawn struggle. Our philosophy is that no decisions are irreversible, that laws can be amended and that policy makers can be compelled to change their opinion. We believe that people will not accept conditions that go against their well being and survival. We believe that wrong policies and bad decisions can and will be reversed if we work hard enough to build a movement empowering the people to decide what is good for them.
 

Structure
Gene Campaign is a research and advocacy group. It has an Executive Board made up of experts from various fields who are available for consultations, critique and professional advice.

Responsibility for actual field and campaign work was shared by Dr Suman Sahai, Mr. Mohan Prakash and volunteers in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala.

Gene Campaign has several hundred members all over the country. They work in alliance with local groups and decide their programs according to their schedule, within the framework of the Campaign's objectives. All workers are voluntary.

Strategy
We decided to start work without taking funding, in order to force ourselves to find strategies from below, with the people, by convincing them about the importance of the issues. We did not want to begin by "hiring" easy support just because it was possible to pay for it. We also wanted to test our commitment and sustaining capacity for what we knew to be a prolonged campaign.

The role of the Co-ordinator, Mohan Prakash, in picking our first contacts was significant and important. A well known political and student activist, he was a member of the student movement of the 70s, which overthrew the Emergency of Indira Gandhi and restored democracy in India.

Many initial contacts were people out of this movement who retained a commitment to working for the larger good. In diverse occupations now, they were an important part of the first network points we established in the country and from where we could form other links and spread our work into interior and far flung areas. The reason why Gene Campaign was able to launch a national campaign without any financial support was because it succeeded in obtaining the support of large numbers of people who carried a sense of responsibility for nation building and who gave their time to Gene Campaign.

We started by identifying groups or people in the areas we had targeted in the first round. We would approach these people/groups for a preliminary meeting to discuss the issues and to fix dates for a public meeting at a later date.

Gene Campaign allies with local individuals and groups in various States when it starts its work. We believe that the credibility of a message is strongest when it receives the support of local people of some standing. That is why we include local opinion makers like teachers, lawyers, doctors and members of the panchayat in our programs and discussions at public meetings.

One of the most influential groups of people in villages is schoolteacher. We make it a point to give them prominence in our programs. Whatever the villager hears, even if he reads it in a newspaper, often remains dubious until confirmed by the schoolteacher. When the local teacher confirms that treaties like GATT are being signed and patents sought for seeds via such agreements, the villager has no more doubts.

Our local partners also include schools and colleges, voluntary organisations, farmers' organisations, student bodies, village youth and others. Our aim is to link people and groups on this issue and create a network across the country that along with strengthening the work will also forge a public platform.

As a matter of principle, Gene Campaign always stayed in the village where it held meetings. This enabled us to be credible and bond with the locals, especially women and youth.

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