JOIN USThe journalism department of Mount Carmel College hosted a three-day parliamentary debate competition on its campus recently. The event had as many as 27 teams participating from 10 colleges across the City.
The students debated and discussed the topic, ‘Can the State enforce compulsory organ donation or not?’ Speaking after inaugurating the competition, principal Sr Juanita said, “Debating as a culture has become very popular among youngsters and is being actively encouraged by competitions such as this one.
The response for the event has been overwhelming and hopefully with support from young debaters across Bangalore, we will be able to make this an annual affair.” The chief adjudicator for the event was Kalrav Mishra, an avid debater himself.
It was a well-contended and close debate, with the side representing the government emphasising on its duty as a welfare state to do more than what they are expected to, and providing privileges to its citizens, citing examples of doing so through the reservation system and the laws of taxation.
They rested their case on the premises of corporate social responsibility and good Samaritan laws. To this, the opposition argued on the right to decency in death and the application of laws of inheritance. They also spoke about how the right of the State ends where the autonomy of the individual begins.
The winner and the runners-up were teams from the National Law School of India University. The winning team was awarded a prize money of Rs 18,000 and a rolling trophy. Vipul Nanda and Vinodhini were adjudged the best speakers.
The awards for the best adjudicators went to Mriganki and Kaushik Mudda. A separate category for the inexperienced debaters or the novice teams was bagged by Christ College.
The head of the department of journalism, Shefalika Narain said, “The debating competition was a rich learning experience, which has set the stage for more such events in the future. The trophy sparked off a healthy competitive spirit among participating colleges.”
The students observed that parliamentary debate is the fastest growing form of inter-college debate and forces the students to develop a broad scope of knowledge, incisive wit, relentless argumentation and quick thinking.
All this makes for an entertaining session. Anila Kurian, a student of journalism said, “The event was really good as it gave students across colleges in the City an opportunity to showcase their debating skills. It was fun to listen to each one of them fighting to prove their point.”