The sixth edition of the IIDL Model Parliament was held on Wednesday 2023 at the RMP-KEC campus in Uttan, Thane in the presence of Eatala Rejender, MLA Huzurabad and former Finance Minister of Telangana who served as the chair or the speaker of the house on the occasion.
The IIDL Model Parliament was a simulation of the actual Indian Parliament and involved 30 students from the Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership’s (IIDL) Post Graduate Programme in Leadership Politics and Governance. The students were divided into the ruling and opposition and debated accordingly.
The students recreated the look and feel of a real Parliament during the event through their debates and speeches.
Parliamentary business such as the oath-taking ceremony for new members, question hour, calling attention motion, and bills were conducted. These activities provided the participants with a practical understanding of parliamentary functioning.
The calling attention motion was made on two specific topics: the proposal to rename Aligarh to Harigarh and the ongoing riots in Manipur. Furthermore, the list of business conducted during the Model Parliament session included the introduction and tabling of two bills.
The first bill was the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which aimed to establish a comprehensive citizenship database. The second bill was the finance bill or the budget.
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Both the calling attention to the renaming of Aligarh and the NRC saw strong views and heated arguments from both sides. The students debated the history of Aligarh with historical evidence of it being called Harigarh during the calling attention motion.
Eatala Rajender diligently chaired the model parliament and craft fully intervened to ensure an increased productivity of the house. He said, “I am really impressed with the quality of the debates and preparation with which the students are speaking in this model parliament. It feels like they are ready to speak in the real Parliament.”
Devendra Pai, Course Director of IIDL added that “IIDL Model Parliament is a platform to gain practical experience in parliamentary proceedings, drafting bills and understanding and debating pressing issues.”
“It was very special to have been the Finance Minister of the Model Parliament and present the budget in the presence of the former finance minister of Telangana,” said Nayan Dwivedi, who hails from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and was a participant in the model parliament.
Anand Krishna Rapela, who was the Prime Minister of the Model Parliament added, “Being from Telangana, it was special to have Eatala Rajender, who is such a popular leader and brilliant administrator in my home State as the speaker for the model parliament. We got to learn a lot through his conduct during the session and the interactions we had after it.”
