Ravi Dhaliwal
Gurdaspur, December 1
A 23-year-old girl from Dera Baba Nanak here has become the centre of attention in this nondescript township ever since residents learnt about her selection to deliver a three-minute speech in the Parliament on the life and times of India’s first President Dr Rajendra Prasad.
A daughter of a baker and a housewife, Jogita Sharma will deliver the speech on December 3, the birth anniversary of Dr Prasad.
Couldn’t get any bigger for me
It could not have gotten any bigger than this for me. The entire township of Dera Baba Nanak is praying for me. Residents have promised they will watch me on TV when the big moment arrives on December 3.
In Dera Baba Nanak, where not many have earned a name in the field of education, the young middle class girl has become an icon of sorts.
Ex-Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who represents the area in the Vidhan Sabha, said, “Jogita has broken the glass ceiling. I expect more youngsters from the border areas to make it big on the national stage.”
In a tweet, Randhawa also congratulated the staff of Government Girl’s Senior Secondary School, from where she has passed Class XII.
Jogita’s phone has not stopped ringing since November 23 when news broke out in the city that “one of them” had earned the “rare privilege of speaking in the Parliament”.
She is among the seven youngsters chosen from across the country.
Jogita was selected by virtue of winning the District Youth Parliament held online in February. Her topic was “Beti Bachao, Beti Padao”. A fortnight later, she was selected to participate in the state-level Youth Parliament held in Mohali, where she spoke on “Pros and cons of policies framed by the Indian Government for the farming community”.
“This could not have happened without the support of my mother Anita Rani and father Ramnish Mitter. I would also like to thank my science teachers Harneet Kaur and Palwinder Singh.”
