President of Assam University Students’ Union, Subhamoy Chanda shares experience of Parliament visit

“It was a dream, we went there as strangers and went back as good friends” is what Shubhamoy Chandra said about his recent visit to the Parliament. Assam University Student Union’s elected President and a National Service Scheme volunteer, Chanda was invited by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Om Birla. The visit to the Parliament was on the occasion of Rashtriya Ekta Diwas on October 31, which is celebrated to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Students from different colleges and universities across the country represented at the convention. Organisations like NSS, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghatan, and NCERT were present among others. Shubhamoy was selected by NSS Regional Directorate to represent there.

The Prime Minister and the Speaker, Lok Sabha in association with the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and Ministry of Education have taken an initiative to invite the youths of the country to the National Capital and represent their states on the occasion of paying tribute to the national leaders. The first edition of such a convention started this year on Gandhi Jayanti. Regarding his selection for his Parliament visit, Shubhamoy said, “For the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas event, I was selected to represent NSS India. The selection was based on past performance in the events of NSS and the State Youth Parliament of 2021-2022. Later on, a screening round was later held just a week before the event by the NSS Regional Directorate. After the selection, I received an invitation from Om Birla, Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha, that felt quite special. All the participants were provided with a stay in the Western Court Annexe, Janpath”.

About the schedule of the visit on the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, the NSS Volunteer said, “We went to the Parliament Library building early in the morning for breakfast and later there was an allotted time to take individual pictures in front of the Parliament House, which will be a memory for life. After that the main events of the day started, we visited the chambers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and also the Parliament Library for a visit, which contained several rare collections of books and magazines. The entire thing was an amazing experience. The first half of the day ended with paying floral tributes and homage to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the Central Hall of the Parliament”.

When asked whether he sees himself seated in the house of Parliament as an elected representative, the student leader said, “To be honest, it is a dream to sit there someday. I am quite far away from it right now, but yes, won’t be disappointed to get there someday”. About his trip, he further said, “The entire trip was amazing. It was a good time spent with the people, coming to represent various states. The feeling is always good, to be invited to such events. I had a good time with the other participants, we also had the fortune to listen to stalwart Ministers like Rajnath Singh, the Education Minister of India, and Dharmendra Pradhan. I also had the fortune to exchange some words with Om Birla and Dharmendra Pradhan”.

The visit, which also included a show around the Parliament and monuments like National War Memorial, and the ceremonial boulevard Kartavya Path, concluded at Rashtriya Swachchata Kendra at Raj Ghat. “The best thing was to meet with several new people”, Shubhamoy concluded saying, “who came from various parts of the country to attend the event as strangers and went back as very good friends”.