 And Sadguru, a very warm welcome. It is a great privilege to welcome the Honourable Prime Minister and Sadguru today to the Save Soil event here in Delhi as part of Sadguru's lone motorcycle journey across the world for the rallying call of Save Soil. Welcome Honourable Prime Minister Sir and Sadguru. As I mentioned, it is a landmark day in Sadguru's 100-day, 30,000-kilometre journey for the Conscious Planet Save Soil movement to accelerate citizen support and government action policy to revitalise soil. We have both Sadguru and the Prime Minister here and I'd like to request our soil champion, the lone motorcyclist, the one that needs no introduction, Sadguru, to please share his pearls of wisdom with us. Welcome to our beloved Prime Minister and many other ministers, cabinet ministers and M.O.S.s and Excellencies. Namaskaram to all of you. And above all, the wonderful volunteers who have supported me every mile. As human beings, we are here on this planet just in terms of planet's life just for a few moments. But still, how empowered we are that we can even threaten the life on this planet. This empowerment is the peak of evolution. This is what we are. We are the flower of evolution. We are the consequence of every other creature that has grown in this land, in this planet. But invested with such a sense of intelligence, with such a sense of capability, if we do not function consciously, if we do not function responsibly, our intelligence and our capabilities turn against us, this is what soil degradation is about. Soil degradation has happened, environmental damage has happened, not because there is some evil force sitting somewhere wanting to damage this planet. It is all in pursuit of human happiness and well-being that this is happening. So this is the case of a potato farmer who wanted to eat mangoes and went to the mango tree. But out of sheer habit, started digging the earth looking for mangoes. When he did not find mangoes there, he became very furious and dug furiously and slowly the tree came upon him. This is the case of humanity right now. This is where we are. So, every one of us knowingly, unknowingly our partners in this destruction, the only way around is every one of us have to be partners in the solution. There is simply no other way. It is from this basis that save soil movement was launched and in the last two and a half years as I've been talking to various agricultural ministries around the world, what was shocking for me was that most agricultural ministries in the world, eighty-five percent of the nation still address soil as an inert substance that can be fixed by adding a chemical or taking out a chemical. But in this culture, we have always referred to soil as our mother. We cannot have an inert mother, we cannot have a dead mother. We need a living mother which will spawn generation after generation. It is not of our... it is not out of our bodies the future generations come. It is from the soil body that the future generations come and thrive. Unfortunately, we have brought that to a certain threat. But fortunately, we are in that cusp of time that if we act now in a determined way, it does not take any rocket science to fix this, nor does it take enormous amount of financial outlays. It just needs the right direction and a committed approach, a resolute approach towards the solution. We can walk out of it especially in our country where sixty percent of our population still engaged in agricultural activity. And with a history of over twelve thousand years of agricultural history in this country where organized agriculture has been happening for over twelve thousand years. But for twelve thousand years, we managed our soils well. Only in the last forty-five years this has happened, simply because probably the fear of famines of 1940s, the hangover of the 1940s, debilitating famines, we took emergency steps to mitigate that. Well, it worked in many ways, because India's average life expectancy in 1947 was twenty-eight years. That means almost none of us have a right to exist right now by those standards. But today we have reached towards seventy-four or seventy-five years, which is a significant achievement for any nation. We have gotten here, but the steps that we took as a bridge, as an emergency step to cross over these famine-like situations, we should have rolled it back at some point. Unfortunately, we went at the same speed on the emergency scale and we have caused a certain amount of damage. It's very much possible to turn this around. And from my conversations with the Prime Minister, we know this concern is deep-rooted in his heart. It is just that we have to, as citizens of this nation, it is important you stand up and support a possibility because these are steps which will take ten, fifteen, twenty years maybe to turn around fully. So when a government has to take long-term steps like this, without the support of the democratic citizens, there is no way no nation can take such steps because government's terms are usually five years in this country. So five-year term and twenty-year policy is a little bit of a difficulty for various reasons. So it is very important people stand up and support this. This is not a protest, this is not an agitation, this is not an expression of anger or resentment. This is an expression of our love and responsibility for the life that we are and the life that's around us and the life that should be beyond us. This is very, very important right now what we are threatening is the future generations. Every responsible scientist in the world is pointing out in about sixty years time, ninety percent of the world's soil will be degraded and that is not a welcome prediction. Definitely this can be turned around with the necessary policies and it does not need enormous outlays, it needs focus, it needs resolute action which I am sure in this day and age India is very much capable under the able leadership that we have, that we are competent enough to take these steps. So it is not a situation of hopelessness, it is a situation where all of us have to tighten our belt and act and move in the direction of the solution rather than moving towards a problem. Apart from this, in the world what I have seen is wherever I traveled in the last two-and-a-half, three years time meeting many people, environmental ministers, agriculture ministers and various bureaucrats, everybody knows the problem. Everybody generally knows what is the solution. So what I grasped from this was everybody knows the problem, everybody knows the solution but they are just waiting for an idiot to bell the cat. So here I am, I thought. Because the problem is known to everybody in the world, all UN agencies are very convergent with the problem. Most nations are very convergent with the problem, but somehow there was a silence. Fortunately in the last 75 days, it is India 75, it's my great privilege. In 75 days I am in New Delhi. In the last 75 days, 74 nations have come on board for safe soil policy. 2.4 billion people have expressed their concern for soil which has been never before. So once people want it, how can we stop it? Definitely it will happen. The most important aspect of the safe soil moment is it is not against anybody. It is not against any industry. It is not against any lobby. It is not against anybody. I've been talking to fertilizer industry, pesticides, herbicides. They are pushing audio against us. I say I'm only against suicide. I'm not against any other side. It is not anybody's business to tell the farmer how he should farm. All we want is keep the soil alive, keep the soil rich. Is a farmer against a rich soil? No. Just that farmer's economy has been so fragile. Any change he's afraid of. If an incentive-based policy is pushed, definitely most farmers will respond in a very, very positive way. We're very sure about this because we have spoken extensively to farming community around the world and we find everybody is absolutely positive about this. It is just that they need incentive support, which doesn't cost much in this country. Just something as simple as bringing cover crops, which were very much a part of our culture just 45 to 50 years ago. Just bringing cover crops will make the organic content in the soil go up to 3% within six to eight years' time. Only cover crops in summer can do that because it will add 1.5 to two inches of humans every year and it will solve this problem. This is a very simple approach. If we want to do it more aggressively, then it may cost more money, but to do it in the simplest possible way is cover crop. Why I'm saying cover crop is right now it's the month of May. If you fly across India, you will see except western guards in northeastern part of India, largely it looks like a brown desert. This is not how India should look. Whatever the season, there must be green leaf on the land and this was the way India's farming used to be. This is the way the wisdom of the farming community used to work, but unfortunately we have dropped these things for whatever reasons. Instead of looking for who is to be blamed, instead of looking for what is the problem, who caused the problem, all of us are the problem and all of us should become the solution. Thank you very much. Once again, thank you sir for being here. If I can say one, as the Prime Minister has taken up the Solar Alliance, I think there's an immense opportunity after talking to various leaders around the world. I realize India and Prime Minister of India could take up the leadership of soil regeneration in India. And the world, the global leadership for soil regeneration starting with G20 considering we are going to have the stewardship of G20 in the coming year. Thank you very much. Thank you Satguru for your enlightening words. And as mentioned by him, the save soil movement has already touched 2.5 billion people and 74 countries have agreed to act to save soil. This is a movement that has united the world, a mission that has brought people together across the globe to commonly address because it concerns each of us, everyone on earth. His message is simple. Saving soil is necessary to maintain life on our planet. As occupants of a shared planet, we have the unique opportunity now to be part of the solutions for crises like soil extinction and desertification. Here's presenting to you a video that explains the science behind the save soil campaign. What we are facing now is soil extinction. In most countries, more than 50% of the top soil is already gone. Every responsible scientist in the world is clearly saying by 2045 we will be producing 40% less food. 300,000 farmers committed suicide. What else does it take to stir your humanity? UNFAO is saying the food that we are eating belongs to the unborn child. Eating away the food of that life is the worst possible way to live, isn't it? It is agreed by all scientific communities, minimum 3% organic content is essential to keep the organisms fed in the soil. So this is what we must aim at, an incentive-based policy where if you get the land to 3% organic content, you will get a certain amount of incentive. Ladies and gentlemen, as I mentioned earlier, several years ago the Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, had launched a nationwide scheme to help farmers to prevent soil deterioration through balanced use of fertilizers and the application of the right nutrients. The Honourable Prime Minister's foresight, vision and commitment to the global efforts to restore and rejuvenate our planet and soil in particular from extinction is exceptional. I'd like to request the Honourable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi ji, to please address the gathering. 27 countries have reached the 75th century. Today, when the country is celebrating its 75th anniversary, when the new era is coming to an end, the people of this country become very important. I am happy that in the last eight years, all the plans and programmes that have been going on have been taken into consideration. All of them have been taken into consideration in order to protect the environment. Whether it is a clean India mission or a mission related to waste to waste, whether it is a basic sewage treatment plant or a solution to waste from waste plastic or a solution to waste from waste cleanliness. One sun, one grid, whether it is focused on solar energy or whether it is based on ethanol or whether it is based on blinding the efforts of India to protect the environment have been going on for a long time. And this effort has been going on for a long time when the world, today's climate, the world is in trouble. We are not on the planet of India, we are not on the planet of India. The big and powerful countries of the world are not only doing more than 200,000 jobs but are also doing more than 100,000 jobs for the carbon emissions. The global cost of carbon emissions is 4 tons per person. Whereas in India, every person has around half a ton of carbon footprint where it is 4 tons and where it is half a ton. Despite this, in the direction of India's environment, with a holistic approach, not only within the country but also with the international community is working together. On the international level, India was getting a CDR for the Coalition for Disaster, Resilience and Trust. And as Abhisad Guruji said, the International Solar Alliance has done such a thing. In the last year, India has also made it clear that India will achieve a goal of 20-70 years. Friends, soil or soil is one of the five elements for us. We plant the soil with our soil. We grow up by playing with it. There is no shortage in the soil. There is no shortage in understanding the importance of the soil. There is no shortage in accepting the fact that the human race is doing so much harm to the soil that there is a gap in understanding it. And as Abhisad Guruji said, everyone knows what the problem is. When we were young, in the syllabus, in the book, I read a part of Pathe Kram. I read it in Gujarati. Others might have read it in their own language. There was a stone lying on the way. People were going. Some were angry, others were shouting at them. Everyone said, look, someone kept a stone. Where did the stone come from? They don't understand. But no one was keeping it aside. A gentleman came out, and he thought, let's go Abhisad Guruji, someone must have come. When we talk about Yudhishtir and Duryodhan, when it comes to Duryodhan, when it comes to Duryodhan, it is said that to go is to dance is to practice. I know the religion, but I can't practice. I know the truth, but I can't go that night. When such practice increases in the society, there is a problem, so we have to look for ways to solve the problems. I am happy that in the past eight years, the country has worked hard to keep the soil alive. We have focused on five main things to save the soil. First, how to make the soil chemical free. Secondly, how to save the living in the soil in the language of technique called soil organic matter. Thirdly, how to make the salt of the soil and how to increase the level of water. Fourth, due to the lack of water, how to remove the soil from the soil. Fifth, due to the lack of water, how to stop the soil from getting polluted. Friends, while focusing on these things, in the past eight years, the biggest change is in the policy of the country. First of all, the farmers of our country had the feeling of how to remove the soil from the soil. What is the lack of soil and how much is the lack of soil. To solve this problem, the farmers had a big statement to give soil health card. If we give health card to the farmers, then the headline will be that Modi sir has done a good job. This country is like the one who is giving soil health card but the view of the media is less. In the whole country, more than 22 crores of soil health card were given to the farmers and only the card was not given. In fact, in the country, a very big network has also been created. Today, crores of farmers are using fertilizers and micro-nutrients based on the soil health card. The farmers have saved 8-10 percent from this. In the end, 5-6 percent have been seen. When the soil is healthy, when the soil is healthy, it is also increasing. To make the soil rich, the quality of the fertilizers and the quality of the fertilizers has also been very good. Because of the micro-irrigation, because of the lack of soil, because of the lack of soil, because of the lack of soil, because of the lack of soil, the quality of the fertilizers has also been very good. Sometimes, if a 1-2 years old child is sick, he is not feeling well, he is not feeling well, his weight is not increasing, there is no difference in his height. And if a mother says to take care of him and listen to him somewhere, that for health milk and other things are good. And if a mother takes care of him and he every day takes a bath in 10-10 litre milk, then will he be well? But if a mother gives him a little milk every 1-2 times a day, 5 times 7 times a day, then there will be little difference. This is also the case of the harvest. The harvest is good because of the lack of soil, it is not like that. If you drink a lot of water, then the harvest is much better. Per drop more crop. Even an uneducated mother does not give 10 litre milk to her child. But after reading it, we all feed the entire field with water. Anyway, we try to keep on doing all these things. We catch the rain and we try to connect the water with the protection of the country. This year in March in the country the protection of the great rivers has also started. In this along with reducing the production of water rivers are also being used in the country. And it is a shame that in the forest cover of India more than 7,400 sq km will increase. In the past 8 years India has increased its forest cover more than 20,000 sq km. This will help more. Friends, India has biodiversity and connected with wildlife that are walking on the water has also increased in the number of animals. Whether it is a tiger, lion, leopard or an elephant everyone's number is increasing in the country. Friends, this is also the first time that when our village and city are being cleaned up in India, farmers have increased and we have combined this together. Govardhan is an attempt when I say Govardhan which Govardhan has brought he will get worried. Under this Govardhan plan biogas plants from Govardhan and Kheti are changing in the energy. If you ever go to see Kashi Vishwanath then there is a Govardhan plant on a few kilometers away you must have seen it. This has become a jaivik plant. It is working in the fields. Without putting pressure on the soil we have been able to provide information. For this, in the past seven or eight years more than 16,000 new varieties of plants have been made available. Friends, even in natural farming our today's challenges are a great solution. In this year's budget we have decided that on the side of the river we will provide natural farming. We will make a special corridor for natural farming. We have heard of defense corridor. We have started a new program on the side of the river of agriculture corridor of natural farming. With this our fields will be chemical free. We will get a new power of natural farming. In India by 2030 by 2030 we have been working to restore this million years of industry. For scientists Indian for the sake of Defence and innovation of the industry we are working In fact, we jumped from B.S. 4 to B.S. 6 straight away. The L.E.D. bug that we ran in the country, due to which almost 40 million tons of carbon emissions are decreasing. If everyone is connected to the L.E.D., everyone's efforts are very important. India is trying to reduce its emissions on fossil fuels. Our energy needs must be fulfilled with renewable sources. For this, we are working on a faster and greater goal. We set a goal to achieve 40% non-fossil fuel based sources of our power generation capacity. India has achieved this goal 9 years ago. Today, our solar energy capacity has increased by 18 times. Whether it is a hydrogen mission or a circular economy policy. This is the proof of our sustainability. We have brought a scrap policy for old cars. The scrap policy itself is going to be a big task. Friends, between these efforts, today, on the day of the celebration, India has achieved another achievement. I am very fortunate to have this good news. I have received a very good message today. The tradition of India is that if you touch the person who travels, you will get half the wealth. I will definitely share this good news with you and the country and the people of the world. Yes, some people can enjoy. India has achieved 10% ethanol-blending goal in petrol. You will also feel proud to know that India has reached 5 months ago. This achievement is so great that you can imagine that in 2014, India used to have only 1.5% ethanol-blending in petrol. Because of reaching this goal, India has three direct benefits. First, it has reduced the carbon emission of 27 lakh tons. Second, it has saved India from more than 41,000 crores of foreign currency. Thirdly, because of increasing ethanol-blending, it has reached more than 40,000 crores in 8 years. I congratulate the people of the country, the farmers of the country, and the oil companies of the country for this achievement. Friends, the PM National Gati Shakti who is working on the master plan today will also carry out the most important role in the protection of the environment. Because of Gati Shakti, the logistic systems of the country will be reduced, and the transport system will be strengthened. This will help in reducing production. In the country, there is multi-modal connectivity. There is work for more than 100 new waterways. All of these will help India in dealing with the protection of the environment and the challenges of climate change. The efforts of India is another question of these debates. These are the questions of green jobs. The way India is taking decisions in the field of agriculture, it is making them fast. It is also making the opportunity of green jobs in a large scale. This is also a matter of concern that should be thought about. Friends, for the protection of the environment, for the protection of the earth, for the protection of the soil, the more the population increases, the better the results will be. My country and all the governments of the country, all the local governments and all the social institutions are eager to join the School Colleges, NSS and NCG in their efforts. In today's world war, the water is connected to the protection of the earth. Up to 15 August next year, in every district of the country, at least in one district, at least in every district, 75 amritsarovars work is going on in the country. More than 50,000 amritsarovars will help the upcoming generations to ensure water security. These amritsarovars will help the environment to improve the soil, they will stop the water travel from going down, and they will also improve biodiversity. How will you all contribute to the development of this country? Let us all think about this as a citizen. Friends, the protection of the environment and the rapid development are all possible through the efforts of everyone. What is the role of our lifestyle in this? How do we have to change it? With this, I am going to talk about a task today in the evening. I am going to talk about it in detail, because I have a task on Guantara Shri Manj. Lifestyle for the environment, mission life. The picture of this revolution, the beginning of a mission to change the destiny of the earth in this revolution. This P3, that is, pro-planet people movement will take place. Today in the evening, Lifestyle for the environment is launching a global call for action. I request that for the protection of the environment, every person should be connected to this. Otherwise, we will run the ACP and also fly the Raijai. And then we will have a good conversation in the seminar of the revolution. Friends, all of you are doing a great service of humanity. You got justice. The long journey of Sadguru Ji, I have been interested in the bike since my childhood, but still the work is very difficult. Because I used to organize trips sometimes. And I used to say in my party that running a trip means reducing the age of 5-10 years. It takes so much effort. Sadguru Ji did this journey. He has done a great job in himself. I am sure that the world will have been created by love for the soil, but the power of the soil of India has also been tested. Thank you all very much. Thank you, Prime Minister Sir. Thank you, Prime Minister Sir, for your words of whole hearted support, encouragement and guidance. As we conclude, may I request Sadguru Ji to please give thanks. Because the Prime Minister is on stage, I have been trying to deliver a serious talk, but he is stealing the stage with all his humour. So whether we want to ensure food security for the nation, enhance farmers' income, enhance biodiversity, bring back aliveness into our soil, save soil is very important. We besiege the Prime Minister to take dynamic steps in this direction. He has already narrated many things. We are willing to work with him and the required ministries to take this ahead. Thank you very much, sir, for being here today. Thank you, Sadguru and Prime Minister Sir, for your vision and foresight. Please remain in your places, ladies and gentlemen, as the Prime Minister and Sadguru leave the hall. Please be seated. Thank you, Sadguru, and we wish you a safe journey as you continue to travel in the last leg of the 100-day journey through Bharat, onward as you go to Lucknow, Bhopal, Nasik, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Mysuru, Bengaluru, and to the Kaveri Basin in Coimbatore, and conclude at the Adiyogi at Isha Yoga Center. Thank you, Sadguru, for single-handedly taking on the mammoth mission of save soil. Please remain with us as we share with you glimpses of Sadguru's save soil rally across 27 countries, from London to New Delhi, so far. We would like to also invite you to join us for this evening's public event being held at the Indira Gandhi indoor stadium from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Entry, as you know, is restricted to those who have registered on the website for the event, and we do have a few seats left still in case you want to join us. Please register on the Conscious Planet website at savesoil.co forward slash deli. Please enjoy the save soil rally video that we have for you. Please be seated, ladies and gentlemen. It's a great pleasure for me. These beautiful Caribbean nations are going for this fast. This memorandum of understanding that we cite will also bring some technical assistance to the Caribbean region.