December 11, 2010

Kisan Swaraj Yatra Reaches Rajghat: Thousands take pledge to reclaim sovereignty of our food and farming New Delhi, 11 December 2010: Smt Sonia Gandhi met with a delegation of Kisan Swaraj Yatra members today and assured them that she shares the concerns raised by the Yatra. Meanwhile, thousands of citizens from all across the country came together today at Rajghat, the memorial of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, to proclaim their sovereign right over food and farming. The event marked the culmination of the 71-day long Kisan Swaraj Yatra which started from Sabarmati on Gandhi Jayanti, the 2nd of October. The Yatra is a pan-Indian outreach and mobilization effort to draw fresh attention of the nation to the continuing agrarian crisis in India. The Yatra, one of the biggest initiatives in the recent past to bring together people from all sections of society on the issue of sustainability in Indian farming, interacted with farmers and others in 100 districts of 20 states that it cut across in the last 70 days. There were public meetings, farmer interactions, field visits and citizen forums in 100 districts as part of the Yatra, through which a dialogue was struck with nearly twenty five thousand people, including farmers, consumers, agriculture scientists, political parties and governments. The Yatra was organized by ASHA (Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture), a newly formed loose network of hundreds of organizations across the country. More...

Contact: Kiran Vissa 09701705743, Nayani Nasa 09999778674; 9.30am: Yatris and participants will pay respects at the Gandhi Samadhi, Raj Ghat Day’s events... Read More