Guwahati Student Delivers Speech at the Historic Central Hall of Parliament

 GUWAHATI, October 10, 2026 — In a remarkable intersection of student scientific innovation and national youth leadership, two Class IX students from St. Vivekananda English Academy ,Guwahati, Shivraj Biswas and Debanjan Chakraborty, represented Assam inside the historic precincts of the Parliament of India during the national Gandhi Jayanti commemorations on October 2.

The milestone culminated inside the iconic Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan (Old Parliament House), where Debanjan Chakraborty delivered a live address. He achieved the rare distinction after clearing competitive pan-India auditions, emerging as one of only 12 school students selected across the country to deliver a speech from the parliamentary podium.

 

The opportunity arose through the flagship national initiative, “Know Your Leader: Participation of Youth of Our Country in the Events in the Parliament to Pay Homage to National Leaders on their Birth Anniversary,” organized jointly by the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE), Lok Sabha Secretariat, along with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Youth Affairs.

The road to New Delhi was paved by sustained research in scientific innovation. Lead student innovator Shivraj Biswas, mentored closely by teacher Deep Chetry alongside teammate Debanjan Chakraborty, secured first place at the State-Level Bal Vaigyanik competition, earning the mandate to represent Assam at the 52nd Rashtriya Bal Vaigyanik Pradarshani in Bhopal.

 

At the national conclave in Bhopal, Biswas’s grassroots innovation stood out among 270 exhibits from across India, securing a place in the top 40 projects shortlisted by NCERT for formal patent consideration. It was this rigorous benchmark of hands-on innovation that qualified Biswas and Chakraborty for nomination by PRIDE into the select student delegation representing the northeastern region, accompanied by mentor teacher Deep Chetry and Principal Mitra Som Saha.

For the students and their mentor, stepping inside Samvidhan Sadan offered a direct encounter with living history. The young delegation took their seats inside the Central Hall—the sacred chamber where Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and the Constituent Assembly deliberated and drafted the Constitution of India, where successive Prime Ministers have addressed the nation, and where global leaders including Barack Obama have addressed joint sittings of Parliament.

 

Surrounded by monumental oil portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and guided past the imposing statues of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Jayaprakash Narayan, Swami Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo, the chamber provided an indelible setting for Chakraborty’s national address.

“To stand at the microphone where our founders debated the fundamental tenets of our republic and articulate the vision of our generation was an unforgettable, humbling responsibility,” shared Chakraborty following the session.

The delegation was also accorded an extensive walkthrough of the New Parliament House, experiencing an architectural and technological marvel designed for modern governance. Observing proceedings from the Public Galleries of both houses, the students witnessed state-of-the-art parliamentary engineering infused with cultural symbolism:

• The Lok Sabha Chamber, conceptualized around the national bird, the Peacock, layered in vibrant teal aesthetics and anchored by its lush green carpet—a conscious constitutional metaphor representing the representatives of India’s grassroots. 

• The sacred golden Sengol, standing stately beside the Speaker’s Chair as an unyielding emblem of righteousness, duty, and justice. 

• The Rajya Sabha Chamber, radiating understated dignity through the national flower, the Lotus, adorned in rich crimson carpeting.

 

Highlighting the profound pedagogical value of the national platform, mentor teacher Deep Chetry noted that the journey from a regional laboratory project to national patent consideration and onward to the floor of Parliament demonstrates the transformative power of practical, problem-solving science.

Reflecting on the milestone, educator Mitra Som Saha emphasized that true learning must transcend the four walls of a classroom:

“What our students absorbed within these corridors cannot be taught inside textbooks alone. Seeing the physical manifestations of the world’s largest democracy, understanding how grassroots representation dictates governance, and recognizing that regional scientific problem-solving can propel students onto a national constitutional platform transforms a young mind forever. This is immersive citizenship at its most potent—where patriotism ceases to be an abstract ideal and becomes an enduring sense of personal responsibility to the nation.”

The achievements of Shivraj Biswas and Debanjan Chakraborty highlight the growing calibre of Northeast India's youth, proving that grassroots technical ingenuity and articulate civic voice can elevate students to the highest forums of the republic.