After the Delhi Assembly elections, a schoolgirl was heard asking her friend why the Prime Minister had not changed — an indication of how ‘clued in’ schoolchildren are on India’s election process, on the difference between Parliament and Legislative Assembly.
Students of Umbichi Haji Higher Secondary School, at Chaliyam here, sought to remedy the situation by bringing out Delhi Express , a booklet that covers everything about elections in the country, in a series of comprehensive well-edited articles.
The book is the first venture of the Parliament Club of the school which was formed in November 2013. Still in its initial stages, the club consists of only 10 students, all of whom had actively participated in compiling the book under the guidance of their journalism teacher P.M. Noushad, who edited it.
The book is a careful compilation of facts collected from websites, year books and other publications, delivered in a simple language so that the students, the target community, gets a better understanding of parliamentary democracy.
A comprehensive account of history of parliamentary elections constitutes a major part of the book with accounts on the governments formed on each occasion and details of seats held by various political parties.
An article on the two houses of Parliament, their functions, sessions, tenure, and laws that govern them comes next. A detailed account of the Election Commission ends with a short note on the role of the former Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan in strengthening the election process in the country. The different modes of election, right to vote, election vocabulary, national and State parties and the symbols they contest under are mentioned in detail. The parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in Kerala are listed with information on the panchayats they encompass. The book concludes with an article on the electronic voting machine.
The book was released on February 16 by former student of the school and Member of Parliament E.T. Mohammad Basheer. The 2,000 copies printed were sold within no time.
