A growing chorus of India's scientific community and civil society leaders has issued a unified set of demands ahead of the Centre's aggressive push toward mandatory E20 fuel blending across the country. The group, comprising researchers, environmental advocates, and public health experts, urged the government to pause the rollout until independent studies confirm the policy does not compromise engine performance, farmer livelihoods, or food security.
The call comes as several Indian states have reported unexpected mechanical issues with vehicles running E20 blend, including reduced mileage, corrosion in older engines, and supply chain bottlenecks that have left some petrol pumps unable to deliver the mandated blend consistently. Critics argue the timeline for achieving 20 percent ethanol blending by 2025 was set without adequate pilot testing in diverse climatic conditions across India's vast geography.
In addition to the fuel policy concern, the coalition demanded the scrapping of the National Testing Agency (NTA), citing repeated glitches in major entrance examinations that have affected lakhs of students annually. Issues ranging from paper leaks and scheduling errors to result discrepancies have eroded public trust in the body, which conducts exams for admissions to medical and engineering institutions across the country.
Separately, the activists called on the central government to enact a comprehensive anti-black magic law at the national level. While several states including Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha have already passed legislation criminalizing witch-hunting and black magic-related atrocities, campaigners note that the absence of a uniform national framework allows perpetrators to exploit legal gaps across state borders. They stressed that policies must be grounded in scientific evidence rather than political expediency.
The coalition emphasized that evidence-based policymaking remains the cornerstone of effective governance and urged the government to engage with independent experts before proceeding with large-scale implementation of policies that affect millions of citizens daily.
