New Delhi: Mr. Pawan Kumar Bansal, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Finance gave away prizes to the winners of the 8th Youth Parliament Competition, 2005-2006 for universities/colleges yesterday.

Students of Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology (MPUAT) Udaipur (Rajasthan) bagged the first prize among 35 competitors.

Besides, merit trophies were awarded to six universities standing first in their respective groups.

These were, Annamalai University (Annamalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu); University of Mumbai (Mumbai); Madurai Kamraj University (Madurai); Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (Jabalpur); University of Kalyani (West Bengal) and G. B. Pant University.

Bansal said that such an exercise inculcates democratic values among students.

Lauding the performance of winning teams, the Minister wished that legislators should take a leaf out of youth parliamentarians.

Tolerance, he said, in the core issue in the functioning of Parliament, which allows space for the expression of all shades of opinion.

"Youth Parliament not only exposes students to the functioning of our Parliament system and procedures, but also reinforces in them the spirit of democracy", he said.

The Minister appreciated the effort of all teachers and students involved in the competition.

The Scheme of Youth Parliament contributes towards qualities of discipline, leadership, tolerance and concern for the society amongst students, he said.

The Youth Parliament Scheme acquaints students with the practices and procedures of Parliament, techniques of discussion and debate and develops in them the quality of leadership.

Teams of judges, which included MPs/Ex-MPs along with officers of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and academicians of repute from non-participating institutions, evaluated the competition.