 Hello and welcome to NewsClick, right now we are at the national conference for a special session of the parliament on agrarian crisis organised by the nation of farmers. This is to discuss the agrarian crisis especially in light of the most recent farmers protest from Nasik to Mumbai that shook the entire country. Today is the start of a three day session that will discuss the onslaught and attack faced by youth, workers, farmers and women today. Let's take a look at some of the key issues that were discussed here ahead of this special session. Welcome to the nation for farmers conference and convention. Before the neoliberal reform started, before trade openness started, why did you not hear of debt induced farmers' use sides? It was because our agriculture was protected. It was protected from free inflow and outflow of global commodities. I agree and we should all put our demands that we should come out of this neoliberal framework, reverse the economic reforms, bring back all the protective mechanisms including policies, laws and institutional arrangements, it revives them and also enhance support mechanisms. This is the point I want to make. But I think the second point is that even if we are not able to do this immediately, at least we can revive the institutions and protective mechanisms that we used to operate earlier. After 20-30 years of atomization and self-centered hedonism, the middle classes have come out in a big way to participate in the marches of farmers and farm laborers. And that has happened from Punjab to Tamil Nadu. And that is such a significant, such a significant development. So the most important thing that was brought about by this whole farmers' effort and I think to the nation for farmers' effort, the idea to add to that, the Kisan movement will set the agenda. We really require a special session of parliament for minimum three weeks where all these issues will be discussed, solutions will be found and one of the important things that must be discussed in such a special session of parliament is the National Commission on Farmers Report. The National Commission which was headed by Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, the report was submitted in all five parts by 2006. Today it is 2019, last 13 years parliament has not spent even one minute discussing this very crucial report of the Swaminathan Commission which is not limited only to the recommendation of remunerative prices of one and half times the cost of production. But it has a number of other recommendations which are very valuable, which require to be discussed threadbare and in detail. Apart from this, there are four or five very, very major issues which require to be really dealt with absolutely frontally today if the agrarian crisis is to be resolved. Actually we are not demanding it as something like arms over there at all, we are demanding this as a right because these farmers have been looted by the government and by the market over the last several years. In fact several decades ever since independence, we are very much aware that just a loan waiver will not solve the problems of agriculture nor will it solve the problems of farmers on a long term basis simply because if the current policies continue, the same kind of loan and indebtedness is going to afflict farmers very soon again. Not only this, if the Swaminathan Commission itself said simply declaring MSP at one and half times the cost of production is not enough, the government must set up a machinery at every Monday level to be able to buy the agricultural produce of the peasantry at that price. Today more than half the country is reeling under drought, Kerala was reeling under very bad floods the worst in a century, Assam, Bihar, etcetera we are having floods or drought. So therefore, in case of natural calamities there has to be a really pro-farmers comprehensive crop insurance scheme which is in place not the Pradhan Mantri, Fasal Bhima, Yojana which is a farce which is meant not to help farmers but to help insurance companies make tremendous profits. This kind of a crop insurance scheme is not at all what we have in mind, we must have a comprehensive crop insurance scheme which will actually help farmers in distress as a result of natural calamities. The fourth important thing that we have to struggle all over the country is regarding agricultural workers that is a huge section today landless having to just work on agriculture for just sustaining themselves and as a result we have a situation where in 2005-6 the Manarega National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was actually promulgated passed by parliament and we have seen in the last 5 years every attempt has been made to undermine this very important lifeline for the agricultural workers of India and as a result of this we are seeing that the agricultural workers what they had promised in the act 100 days per work they are not even getting 20 days per work on an average as a result of the fact that the government is not giving the outlay required for making this Manarega scheme a success. The fifth important point concerns issues of land rights and land acquisition. We have just seen the Supreme Court judgment on the 20th of February where they asked for eviction of tribals who are not made eligible under the Forest Rights Act. It was a completely unfortunate and insensitive judgment putting the owners on the Adivasi farmers whereas the owners should be on the central and state government for not having implemented the Forest Rights Act in the spirit in which they should have done that. It is a welcome thing that the Supreme Court has today reviewed its own judgment and has taken back the eviction clause today which is a good thing but at the same time the Forest Rights Act needs to be implemented in a large way all over the country. The sixth and the last thing which I would like to say regarding social services and the entire question of social welfare. This is a very important aspect of the agrarian crisis today and this is being totally watered down by successive governments as a result of the neoliberal policies. So, issues like education, issues like employment, issues such as health, issues of the Dalits, of the Adivasis, of very important section farmer women. These are all issues which come under the category of social welfare, under the category of social justice and I think that these all issues also are extremely vital and they need to be really resolved on a war footing if some kind of a equality is to be achieved.