Women proved better parliamentarians than men and bagged all the three top prizes of the first students’ parliament organised by the Jharkhand Assembly on its premises on Sunday.

Under the watchful eyes of Speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto and a panel of judges comprising veteran MLAs, the special session began with protem student Speaker Vijay Baraik administering the oath of secrecy to all the 24 members representing as many districts of the state.

This was followed by the declaration of Daisy Lakra as the Speaker who was elected unopposed. Chief minister Preeti Kumari and leader of the Opposition Nupur Mala escorted the newly elected Speaker to her seat.

Daisy deftly handled the business of the House, beginning with the Question Hour.

Bombhola Upadhyay from the Opposition expressed concern about the rising cyber crimes in the state.

The chief minister assured the House that the government had already launched an awareness campaign and was training police personnel to tackle the problem.

Gauravi Patra, also from the Opposition, wanted to know what the government was doing to augment people’s income. Minister Smriti Raj said the government was trying to improve income opportunities by not only enhancing the traditional mining and forest activities but also exploring similar opportunities in the tourism and industry sectors.

When the government placed the Jharkhand Tree Protection Bill 2021, the Opposition tried to block it. The Speaker put the proposal to voice vote and declared it accepted.

Speaker Lakra was declared as the best student parliamentarian while Sabhyata Bhushan and Sweta Singh bagged the second and third slots, respectively.

“Please remember that democracy gives you certain rights but also expects you to perform certain duties,” Assembly Speaker Mahto reminded the students, adding that the parliamentary etiquette that they learnt would also help them outside.