Sikindhar Jaladi is flush with energy and enthusiasm after addressing this year’s National Youth Parliament session where he represented Andhra Pradesh.
“It was a great feeling to be the youngest Parliamentarian among the youth gathered there and speak my mind out on ‘Patriotism and Nation-Building’”, the 18-year-old recalls.
The event was organised as part of the National Youth Parliament Festival (NYPF), a national level competition being conducted since 2019 by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, in collaboration with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS).
The event encourages youth in the 15-29 age group to make their voice heard by airing their views on key issues from an important platform like the Parliament and contribute towards policy-making. Every year, the event is conducted in January and culminates in the Youth Parliament session on January 12 to mark the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. This year, the programme had to be rescheduled to March 10 and 11 due to the third wave of the pandemic.
“My confidence grew as I cleared the first two rounds, the district-level and the State rounds,” he says adding that the theme at the district-level was ‘Digital India’. His impressive talk on how India is transforming digitally through the several apps designed by the government to make life easier for people at all levels, and the significant role the youth can play in promoting the digital revolution got him first position.
In the State-level event, he spoke about the government’s campaign on Start-Up India and Stand Up India. “I am delighted to have got the opportunity to speak at Parliament, which is the highest forum of discussion and debate on public issues and national policy,” says Sikindhar who is a first year engineering student from SRM University, Andhra Pradesh campus. “We met Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Nisith Pramanik and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla
At the national-level, speakers from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab came first, second and third respectively, he said.
