THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:A coat too large for his size, a voice yet to deepen -one could tell from a distance that President John George D’Couth was a teenager. Still he tried, earnestly, to play the part of a visionary at the repeat performance of Youth Parliament competition. “Poverty has no religion. Hunger has no creed,” he said addressing his mates from Leo XIII HSS, Alappuzha.
The school had won the first prize in the competition organised by Institute of Parliamentary Affairs.
In all, 292 schools had participated in the competition. The second prize winners, St Jude’s HSS, Vellarikundu, Kasargod, eagerly followed the proceedings. They had lost only by a whisker, and it seemed that they wanted to know why.
Many of the participants from Leo were dressed in kurta and Nehru jackets, while one participant sported a Gandhi topi. The ushers were also dressed for their role.
The day was very eventful as everything from a swearing-in ceremony, a mourning and question hour were stitched together in the script. “Wait till you see the no-confidence motion is moved by Shifas,” suggested a teacher at Leo. They had to show that they knew everything in the rule book of parliamentary procedures, and they had only a day to do that.
The function on Tuesday was inaugurated by Minister for Youth Affairs P K Jayalakshmi. She said that she never got a chance to be part of such an initiative when she was in school.
She said she felt blessed to be part of the function. V M Ummer Master MLA, presiding over, said that when a parliament was conducted at his school, he was helped by his teacher.
He said that today’s generation, with their exposure to social media and other means of knowledge, were highly aware of their responsibilities towards the nation.
Department of Parliamentary Affairs Principal Secretary Satyajeet Rajan and Institute of Parliamentary Affairs Registrar T R Jayapal were present.
Winners of quiz and essay competitions conducted by Institute of Parliamentary Affairs were felicitated.