कांग्रेस ने तो ६० साल में छिकाए लोग पर भाजपा ने तो दो साल में ही छिका दिए लोग
1   हर साल दो करोड़ रोजगार का वायदा
2  12वीं पास को 6  हजार और बी ए  पास को 9 हजार मासिक भत्ता देने का वायदा             

FACTS

Kisan Ekta

Jun 24, 2016

Kisan Ekta -- The Voice of the Voiceless Farmers. My interview

At the recently concluded 3rd National Convention of Farmer Organisations that was held at Shimla, June 18-20, I was interviewed, among other media, also by TV Down to Earth. In this interview I have tried to explain the reasons behind bringing all the major farmer unions of the country onto one platform. It wasn't an easy exercise considering that the farmer movement has remained divided for various reasons. Political parties have kept the house divided, keeping them at an arms length. As a result the voice of the farmers had diminished over the years. Farmers have disappeared from the economic radar screen of the country. 

The idea to bring all the major farming unions face-to-face around a table was initiated in August 2015 with the 1st National Convention at Chandigarh. This was the first time that farmer unions had come together cutting across party lines, egos and ideologies. In this Convention, some 40 major farmer unions were represented. They made a loud plea to stay together or perish. They all decided to stay under a banner -- Kisan Ekta (Farmers Unity). Consequently, the 2nd National Convention was held at Bangalore in November 2015, in which close to 60 farmer leaders participated. At the 3rd Convention at Shimla, two fishermen organisations too joined. This was for the first time that an effort was made to bring farmer and fisherfolk unions onto one platform. 

This interview gave me an opportunity to dwell at length on some of the complex issues that remains unexplained and also to focus on what the farmer organisations plan for the future. It details out how the farming organisations intend to address the serious issue of agrarian crisis, and also about the thinking to influence the 2019 Parliamentary elections. I hope you find it useful.