Youth parliamentarians across India debate on Union Budget
After the first Amrit Kaal Budget was tabled in the Lok Sabha, 150 school students from across India engaged in a six-day National Youth Parliament. Titled, Budget Dialogues 2023, it was organised by the Youth Leadership Foundation. Started by Kartikeya Goel, the foundation is becoming a major movement in India, with the youth wanting to participate in a civilised debate on the issues of nation-building.
Student youth parliamentarians debated on the ministry-wise budget allocations and proposed amendments to the union budget. The consolidated budget proposals were presented yesterday by Zaib Danish Ali, student finance minister, Budget Dialogues, 2023. The theme for this year was Making India the World’s Hope. With this in mind, students deliberated, debated and discussed ways of strengthening the Indian economy so that in the next 25 years, as India enters Amrit Kaal, it becomes the world’s largest economy. The session commenced with an address by Om Birla, speaker of Lok Sabha. In his recorded video message, he encouraged the youth to actively participate in the democratic process.
Budget Dialogues 2023 is a unique initiative, where more than 5,000 students from 100+ schools across India participated in the preliminary stages. Among them, the best 150 students were selected as student youth parliamentarians. They were then assigned ministries and mandated to deliberate on the budgetary allocations proposed in the Union Budget of India.
The student youth parliamentarians suggested amendments to the budget based on their unique perspectives. A copy of the proposed amendments shall be presented to the finance minister of India by a delegation of the Youth Leadership Foundation.
Setting the agenda for this year, Goel noted: “This is our third consecutive Budget Dialogues. We feel that the union budget for 2023-24 is extremely crucial for India. At a time when India holds the presidency of the G20 and is a beacon of hope for the global economy, the Indian budget should create a foundation on which we, the youth, would construct the India of our dreams.”
Expressing a similar sentiment, Ali stated, “The
goal in the first year of Amrit Kaal is to focus on the areas of development that would allow India to be a global leader by 2050. Through Budget Dialogues 2023, we wish to harness the creative instincts of the Indian youth to establish India as a creative hub that would drive the world economy.”