By Nikhat Fatima, TwoCircles.net
Asaduddin Owaisi, the Member of Parliament from Hyderabad and President of the AIMIM launched ‘LEARN Project’ on February 3 with the objective of educating the young people of Hyderabad about parliamentary democracy and encouraging them to voice their opinions, suggestions and even objections on the parliamentary democratic system.
This project aims to make young men and women of Hyderabad aware of the constitutional democracy of India and engage in deliberations on different issues through democratic platforms. The project focuses on youth between the ages of 18 and 25 who can register online here to learn more.
Owaisi believes that India, with a population of nearly 50% below the age of 25, needs to create consciousness among the youth about the democratic values that are enshrined in the constitution of India. The onus of safeguarding the democratic values is on the future generation which is the youth.
Apart from engaging in discussions and debates, there are many events lined up to engage the youth. Events like Youth Parliament will engage young people in debates through procedures as practised in the Parliament. About 70 youngsters will get the chance to act as parliamentarians where private members bills will be placed and a mock parliament will be conducted.
Heritage walk with the MP himself will see youngsters take a tour of the heritage sites of Hyderabad and learn to take pride in the rich heritage they have inherited.
The first heritage walk was held yesterday 9th February with 50 young girls and boys who were taken to the Charminar where Owaisi explained to them everything about the historic monument, about the ‘Dakani Urdu’ language spoken in Hyderabad which is a mixture of Marathi, Telugu and Kannada.
The youngsters were students of MBA, Law, Engineering, Arts and other courses.
Apart from these events, the event will also have an extensive social media presence. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages have been created for LEARN project where the followers are updated about the upcoming events under the project and also given information on politics, history of Hyderabad, the constitution of India and its chief architect Dr. B R Ambedkar. There are already more than 1,000 followers on all of these social media accounts.
TwoCircles.net spoke to the team handling the LEARN project at the office of the MP who said that there are more than 5,000 volunteers to take care of the registrations, logistics, plan the events and implement them.
One of the team members also informed TwoCircles.net that the heritage walk was a huge success as the MP spent nearly 45 minutes with the students talking to them and answering their queries. They also had special access to the 2nd floor of the Charminar which is closed for tourists but accessible only with permission of the SI. The 2nd floor is the courtyard where the view of the city is even more beautiful.
Our source at the office of the MP also shared that the students are invited on a first-come-first-serve basis as there are just too many youngsters eager to participate in the LEARN project. Another important aspect they take into consideration is selecting equal if not more number of female students to encourage young girls to be more articulate and participative in the public sphere.
One of the participants for the heritage walk Meenal Rawat, a 2nd-year student of Masters in Public policy and Governance from TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) said, “ Hyderabad is the city of rich cultural heritage and what could be the best way to engage with people than a heritage walk at Charminar. As expected, the walk was not only informative with regards to history but also the politics of our country. Mr. Owaisi interacted with the youth and highlighted the importance of parliamentary democracy with utmost patience. One of the best experiences I gathered from the walk was people from different backgrounds coming together and sharing experiences through questions, comments and conversation. It was the boost for youth intending to be the part of India’s development and I hope such initiatives continue where we get to interact with our leader representing us directly.”
She added that she is going to attend other programs under the LEARN project.