Being in Parliament, almost

Youth power

Students from various universities participate in mock parliament

In an innovative exercise, the Hindu College held the first mock Indian Parliament. Acting as Members of Parliament, 55 students from various universities in Delhi simulated the procedure for passing a Bill in the Lok Sabha.

Expertly drafting a bill on a topic as complex as ‘FDI in retail sector’, the students displayed great enthusiasm and an in-depth understanding of the parliamentary system.

The students were given the subject for the proposed Bill, ‘Raising the share of FDI in retail sector’, and a choice of constituencies like ‘Delhi North’ and ‘Gujarat South’. On the first day, the chief guest of the session — legal advisor to DU, Kamla Das — delivered an encouraging note.

This was followed by a briefing on the topic. A majority of 35 students were clearly  against FDI in retail sector and became the ‘ruling government’. On the other hand, 20 students in favour of FDI became the ‘opposition’. The ‘ruling government’ then drafted the Bill.

On the second day, a clause-by-clause discussion of the bill was taken up and the students debated topics like a minimum cap on foreign cash inflow, provisions for farmers, cultural degradation and capitalism. The session was bilingual and saw a lot of shero-shayari like in the real Parliament.

There were heated arguments and allegations like Aap pehle Bill padhke aaiye, ‘Please maintain the dignity of the chair’ and sadan ka time waste na karein, point pe ayein. One student even tried to imitate MP Lalu Prasad Yadav and it added to the entertainment quotient of the session. Munish adds, “Thankfully nobody threw chairs at each other and the session went on smoothly.”

After 15 amendments, the Bill was put to vote, but the ‘ruling government’ prevailed and it was dismissed. The opposition was crestfallen. Munish Rathore, a second year English Honours student, said, “We thought what better way to take forward the democratic traditions of the college than have a full-fledged Parliament session. So we went about registering students from various colleges of Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Milia Islamia. The response was overwhelming.”

 However, the good part was that everybody appreciated each other’s efforts and it all ended on a friendly note. There were two awards as well: the ‘Best Parliamentarian’, won by a student of the Law Faculty, DU, and the ‘Best Orator’, bagged by a student of Dyal Singh College. Munish adds, “Next year, we plan to make the Hindu Parliament national. After all, the platform must not be restricted to colleges of Delhi alone, but reach students in every part of the nation.”