Thane: The sixth edition of the IIDL Model Parliament was held on 17 May 2023 at the RMP-KEC campus in Uttan, Thane in presence of Etela Rejender, MLA Huzurabad and former Finance Minister of Telangana served as the chair or the speaker of the house.
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 in to the ruling and opposition and debated accordingly.
The students recreated the look and feel of a real parliament during the event through their debated 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 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.
Both the calling attention on renaming of Aligarh and the NRC saw strong views and heated arguments from both the sides. The students debated the history of Aligarh with historical evidences of it being called Harigarh during the calling attention motion. Etela Rajender diligently chaired the model parliament and craftfully intervened to ensure 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 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 that, “Being from Telangana, it was special to have Etela Rajender, who is such a popular leader and brilliant administrator in my home state as the speaker for the model parliament. We got to to learn a lot through his conduct during the session and the interactions we had after after it.”
About Indian Institute of Democratic Leadership – IIDL
RMP initiated the idea of IIDL in 2017 to broaden the scope of leadership – science from the limited area of management science and provide an interdisciplinary institutional framework to train leadership from socio-political perspective.
Post Graduate Diploma (PGP) in Leadership, Politics, and Governance (LPG) is a unique interdisciplinary course designed to bridge the gap between young talent and India’s democratic political entity and governance. The programme is targeted at students and young professionals who wish to make a career in the field of politics, governance, public affairs and leadership. The course is designed to produce trained, ethical and responsible leaders, in short – “New Leaders for a New India.”
The one-year residential programme is designed to bridge the gap between India’s young talent and India’s democratic policy and governance. Over a 120 students from over 21 states of India have completed the course and are contributing to nation building.
For more information, contact Director Devendra Pai on 9004394955 or visit https://iidl.org.in/
