The Coop Connect Forum of National Cooperative Union of India organized an Inter-School Debating Competition on Cooperatives 2011. Nearly eight reputed schools of NCR participated in this debate graced both by cooperative leaders and academia.
NCUI conducts this competition to generate awareness for cooperatives amongst the school children. The apex organisation also aims at bringing the subject of cooperatives in the mainstream education system of the country through such activities.
Participating schools included Amity International School, Gurgaon, Delhi Public School, Indirapuram, Delhi Public School, Rohini, Father Agnel School, Gautam Nagar, Green Field School, Saket, Green Field School, Safdarjung, Vankteshwar International School, Dwarka and Chiranjeev Bharati Public School, Gurgaon.
The topic of the debate was ‘Involvement of Youth is Vital for Cooperative Development in India’. Each school had two speakers, one speaking for the motion and another speaking against the motion.
The prizes for the event were of various categories. The first prize in the individual speaker category was Rs 3000/-, while the second prize was Rs. 2000/- and the third prize was Rs. 1500/-. There was a provision of Trophy for the winning team, and also for the Runners’-up Team. There was a cash prize of Rs. 2000/- for the Best Interjector.
Inaugurating the event Dr. Daman Prakash, Sr Consultant, IFFCO Foundation emphasized on the importance of youth involvement in cooperatives. He cited the various successful cases of student cooperatives in the world. He hoped that the students will take interest in the issues of cooperatives which will be quite beneficial for their career prospects.
Ms. Anita Manchanda, Chief Executive, NCUI thanked all the participating teams and eminent dignitaries from cooperative sector who were present on the occasion. In her opening remarks she said that apart from participating in the event, the school students should take interest in the subject of Cooperation for their future career growth.
In Individual Speaker category, the First Prize was given to Ms Sanjana Ahuja of Venkateshwar International Dwarka. While the second prize was bagged by Raghav Chawla [DPS Indirapuram], the third prize was given to Vedanth Govi, DPS, Rohini The Best Interjector Prize was given to Agarni Batra, DPS, Rohini. In the team category, while DPS Rohini won the First prize, the Second Prize was won by DPS, Indirapuram.
The event was attended by officials from cooperative organizations, and other diverse sectors. The officials from Learning Links Foundation[LLF], which is involved with NCUI in a collaborative project for popularizing cooperative model amongst the schools were also present on the occasion.