'Parliamentarians' ask questions on Made Snana, corruption

The Parliamentary Affairs and Legislation Department, Government of Karnataka, in association with Public Instruction Department organised a district-level “Youth Parliament Competition-2011” here at Kamala Bai High School in Kadiyali.

As many as four teams from Karkala, Byndoor, Kundapur and Udupi took part in competition. The overall championship was won by a team from Karkala. Udupi Zone was declared second.

The competition was held to assess the knowledge and skills of high school students on the Parliament procedures. A mock parliament debate was held on the occasion. Each team had to perform the role of ruling party and also opposition party and conduct the Parliament session.

The debate held on the occasion concentrated on state Assembly. The teams from each zone segregated themselves into two separate teams as ruling and opposition parties and argued over the burning issues. The teams were graded based on their capabilities over communication and presentation skills besides debating skills.

Students threw questions to ‘ministers’ on almost all current affairs. The major issues that were discussed included “Made Snana,” “delay and hurdles involved in the appointment of Lokayukta,” “corruption,” “bad condition of roads,” “controversies surrounding the existence of Kannada medium schools” and “students’ bicycle programmes”.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Karnataka, Secretary Sridhar informed that the programme is a Central government sponsored programme and it is held in all states. The programme aims at educating high school students over the parliament procedures. The programme gives a brief idea over the question and zero hours in the parliament and other debates held in the House, he added.

Students are educated on the questions that are asked in the House.

The Central government offers a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh matching grant. Each district is given Rs 6,000 to conduct district-level competition. Two students will be chosen from the winning team to represent the district at the state-level competition to be held in the first or second week of January.

In the State-level competition, similar sort of mock Parliament session will be organised and as many as five students will be selected based on their performances. The winners are given the participation certificate, he informed.