The two-day National Youth Parliament, 2023 concluded in NEHU where over 150 students from 26 educational institutions across the country took part.
Three debate sessions was conducted on the concluding day of the event yesterday.
The first session was chaired by Abhilasha Mahapatra Basaiawmoit, Retired Indian Revenue Service, Commissioner Customs on the topic “Addressing Economic Polarisation in India: Causes, consequences and solutions.”
Basaiawmoit in her introductory speech mentioned how India has progressed as a growing economy with increasing GDP and recently as the most populous country (1.42 billion) overtaking China. She highlighted that 60 per cent of India’s population are in the age group of 25-60 years and stressed on the role of youth in economic developments thereby closing the gap between poor and rich.
The debaters from both sides of the motion in this session expressed that economic polarisation in India needs to be addressed as it causes income inequality, social disparity and rapid urbanization. Economic polarisation in India affects poor section of students in the society for pursuing higher education. Indian economy is doing well as growing GDP indicates but also should focus on other social issues and problems. Further, India being socialist state, should maintain equal distribution of wealth for overall development. Economic policies need to be reformed as different places have different geographical problems and it is important to recognise the role of individuals in economy of the country.
The second session chaired by Prof. K. Debbarma, Dean, School of Social Sciences, NEHU on the topic “National Education Policy, 2020: A Game-Changer or a Missed Opportunity?” The session began with the treasury bench’s opening statement that the NEP 2020 aims for development and it lays down the guidelines for growth criticising the current education policy that has failed in recent years in providing jobs to the youth of the country and increasing frustration in the students. The treasury bench reiterated that the proposed policy is indeed a game changer and substantiating their argument with many examples. Unsurprisingly, this led to wide spread spectrum of contrasting views from the opposition bench. They talked about language disparity and the failure of the current government in acknowledging the ground root reality where many poor people don’t have access to internet or even basic amenities of live a decent life.
The final debate session was chaired by Naba Bhattacharrya, Chairman, state expert appraisal committee on “Wealthy nation must take proactive steps to combat climate change”.
