A demolition in Delhi

ON December 3, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) demolished the Periyar Centre of the Dravidar Kazhagam (D.K.), situated near Palam airport. Although authorities of the centre obtained a stay order from the High Court, they could not halt the demolition. The demolition squad, which consisted of around 50 policemen and 50 workers, apart from DDA officials, razed the five-storey building in less than six hours. Officials of the DDA said that the Periyar Centre, built on a piece of private land measuring about 36,000 square feet in Bamnauli village on the Bijwasan-Najafgarh road, was an unauthorised structure. The DDA has referred the case to its Vigilance Department to identify the officers concerned, during whose tenure the building was constructed.

The issue of the Periyar Centre building was first raised by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy in November 2000 as part of his allegation that the Congress(I) was becoming lenient to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which assassinated Congress(I) president and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Swamy cited the contribution of Rs.5 lakhs to the centre by the Congress(I) government of Delhi as evidence of this. He also wrote to Chief Minister Sheila Dixit, asking her to freeze the release of the money. He expressed apprehensions about the Periyar Centre being used as a safehouse by LTTE cadres. Swamy also alleged that the structure had come up on land originally allotted to Dalits under the 20-point Programme. Senior DDA officials admitted that the complaint had been referred to them by Lieutenant Governor Vijai Kapoor and Home Minister L.K. Advani.

That the issue has become a political one became apparent from a statement issued by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Jayalalithaa asking the Delhi government to restore the centre. Jayalalithaa said: "The whole matter has assumed a sinister design because of the involvement of Swamy at whose behest it is said the demolition was ordered. It is a pity that the government of Delhi acceded to the bidding of a person like Swamy." The statement went on: "It was quite disturbing and painful to learn that the Periyar Centre was subjected to unwarranted demolition by the DDA. I feel that the demolition was carried out with undue haste and could have been totally avoided." She said that it was distressing to note that "such shabby treatment" was meted out to the centre.

The matter will now be decided in the Delhi High Court in February. "We will be able to put our point across forcefully. We are carrying out our work from an adjoining building," said Rajshekhar, a volunteer at the centre.

Naunidhi Kaur* * *RCC scientists face censure

IN what may perhaps be the most significant outcome of the "Johns Hopkins University-Regional Cancer Centre drug trial controversy", Union Health Minister Dr. C.P. Thakur has announced that the government would censure those scientists involved in the M4N and G4N "drug trials" conducted on 26 patients at the RCC between November 1999 and February 2000. The Minister also said that in future, any violation of guidelines of the Indian Council for Medical Research's (ICMR) on biomedical research would mean a ban for life on not only the scientists but also the institutions concerned. The Union government has decided to review all cases of ongoing research related to clinical trials in the country.

These decisions were announced through a press statement issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on December 12, even though both the Central government and the Government of Kerala were yet to reveal the contents of their separate inquiries into the controversial clinical trials at the RCC (Frontline, Cover Story, August 31, 2001).

The Johns Hopkins University had announced on November 12, the findings of the inquiry by its faculty investigative committee into the 'drug' trial on RCC patients conducted by one of its scientists, Biology Professor Ru Chih C. Huang (Frontline, December 7). Huang and her co-workers had earlier isolated two chemicals, tetra-O-methyl nor-dihydro-guaiaretic acid (M4N) and tetraglycinyl nor-dihydro-guaiaretic acid (G4N), from a desert bush and found that they had anti-cancer properties.

The four-month-long Johns Hopkins inquiry proved what those who raised the allegations had been saying all along: that the RCC tests were the first trials of those chemicals on human beings; that those chemicals had not been properly tested on animals before they were tried out on patients; that Ru Chih Huang was not qualified or authorised to conduct experiments on human beings; that the experiments were conducted without obtaining the mandatory approvals; that the chemicals were imported into India without government approval; that the trials did not meet the universal standards for research with human subjects; that adequate, proper and informed consent was not obtained from the patients.

The Union Health Ministry now seems to have accepted all these conclusions. The Minister's statement is, however, in sharp contrast to the silence the State government has been maintaining on the issue, more than two months after the Dr. Parvesh Parikh Commission had submitted its report.

The Health Ministry has also confirmed the suspension of all clinical trials on human beings at the RCC for six months, after considering the reply of the RCC authorities to its show-cause notice. After the completion of the ban period, all clinical trials at the RCC are to be reviewed as per law and permission is to be granted only for those that have been cleared by the Drugs Controller-General of India (DCGI) and the Union Health Ministry's screening committee. The Centre has also advised the RCC to re-constitute its Ethics Committee by coopting a member from the ICMR.

Dr. Thakur also said that the latest decision would send strong signals to research communities both inside and outside India that "Indians cannot be treated as guinea pigs in their zeal to invent newer things". While the government encouraged wholesome biological research, it would not tolerate violation of basic ethics and human rights, he said.

For the organisations and personalities in Kerala who have been demanding further inquiries and action against the RCC authorities, the announcement falls short of expectations. But the Union government's decision will have a serious impact on research involving human subjects in the country.

R. Krishnakumar