This debate competition is conceived by the Mission, as a platform to debate and discuss the issues related to national and international heritage, with the ultimate aim of reaching out to the youth and involving them in our activities.

The competition is organised at two levels—the preliminary rounds taking place in 10 centres across the country and the finals at New Delhi.

The Mission and the collaborating institute will invite entries in form of a qualifying essay by advertising in newspapers. 10 best essays are invited to debate in the preliminary round. The winners of this round participate in the finals at New Delhi. For example, Varanasi hosted participants from Delhi, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, So, the Mission will advertise in these states inviting the essays and the 10 best entries participated in the first round at Varanasi. The winners from Varanasi will compete with the winners from other cities at the finals in New Delhi.

The competition is open to students pursuing their graduation and above.

Rules for the essay

• Essay should be either in English or Hindi
• A team of two people should send one essay entry
• Word limit is 800 words
• Decision of the judges will be final and selected candidates will be informed through post

Rules for the debate

• The medium of debate can be either Hindi or English.
• The participants should carry their University identity cards for the event.
• The order of speaking for is decided by lottery.
• Decision of the judges will be final and selected candidates will be informed through post
• In a team of two, one speaker is required to speak for the motion and one against the motion. Both cannot speak for or against the motion.
• Each speaker is given a time of 3+1 minutes only, the first bell ringing after 3 minutes and the last and final bell after the completion of 4 th minute
• After each speech, the speaker will answer questions from the audience as well as other participants. A maximum of 3 questions is allowed. Cross-questioning is not allowed.
• The participants are graded on the following parameters:

  Matter (content; maximum marks 40)

  Manner (confidence, articulation; maximum marks 30)

  Method (structure of the speech, time limit, etc; maximum marks 30)

  Interjections (maximum marks 30; 10 marks for each question)

• Participants are awarded full 30 marks for interjections in case no questions are asked to them. In case only one question is asked, the answer is evaluated out of 10 marks. Full 20 marks are awarded for the remaining 2 questions.
• Prizes are awarded for the following:

  Best team- Rs. 4, 000/-

  Best speaker- Rs. 3, 000/-

  Runners up speaker – Rs. 2, 000/-)

  Best interjection- two- Rs. 300/- each

  In case of a tie, the prize money will be divided between tied teams/speakers. In case of tie for the best speaker, both contenders are awarded Rs. 2, 500/- each and no prizes are awarded for runners up.

• So far, the preliminary rounds of the Debate have taken place in Varanasi (in collaboration with Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi), Ujjain (in partnership with Vikram University, Ujjain) and Ahmedabad (in collaboration with Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad).