National Policy Competition finals held at DU, IBA team crowned champions

The finals of the Dhaka University (DU) Chapter of the National Policy Competition were held on Monday at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban Auditorium, DU.

The team from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) emerged as champions in the prestigious competition, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

The Department of Public Administration secured the first runner-up position, while the joint team of the Department of Criminology and the Department of Economics became second runner-up.

VC of the DU Prof Niaz Ahmed Khan attended as chief guest and Pro-VC of DU Prof Sayema Haque Bidisha presided over the Programme.

Among others, Ministry of Youth and Sports Secretary Md Mahbub-ul-Alam, DUCSU Treasurer Prof HM Mosharraf Hossain, Proctor Associate Prof Saifuddin Ahmed, Press Institute of Bangladesh Director General Faruk Wasif, DUCSU Vice-President Shadik Kayem, and Ministry of Youth and Sports Joint Secretary Sheikh Md Jobayer Hossain were present at the event.

The event was moderated by competition convener and DU Assistant Proctor Prof Md Rabiul Islam.

In the first round of the competition, 40 policy proposals were presented, from which 10 teams advanced to the second round. Ultimately, 5 teams made it to the finals.

The IBA champion team consisted of Aditi Shawal Noor, Ittesaf Rahman and Alif Bin Hasan.

The first runners-up were Md Mahtabul Islam Mahin, Sakibul Bashar and Maesha Momtaz from Public Administration.

The joint Criminology–Economics team of Zarin Tasneem, Humaira Tabassum Zarin and Amiras Salehin Ha-Meem secured the second runner-up spot.

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Sciences and the joint team of the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies and the Department of Japanese Studies also competed in the finals.

The champion team received Tk45,000, while the first and second runners-up received Tk30,000 and Tk15,000 respectively. Crests, medals and financial awards were distributed among the winners. The IBA champion team will now represent DU in the national-level competition.

The jury board of the finals included Provost of Bijoy 71 Hall and Prof of Political Science SM Ali Reza, Prof of Anthropology SM Arif Mahmud, Chairman of Peace and Conflict Studies Dr Muhammad Sajjad Hossain Siddiqui, and Assistant Prof of Chemistry and Assistant Proctor AKM Nur Alam Siddiqui.

Speaking at the event, VC Prof Niaz Ahmed Khan emphasised the importance of public involvement in policymaking.

“Currently, the participation of the common people in policy making has become very important. But due to the long-standing centralised trend, many people think that policy making is only the job of the government. This idea needs to be broken,” he said.

He urged students to study and work on national policy issues, adding that divisive partisan politics is destabilising society.

Referring to the role of youth in the July Movement, he added, “The youth must lead in all areas of the country. Everyone must work together to move forward towards integrated progress and come out of the politics of division.”

The Dhaka University Environment Society, Dhaka University Debating Society and Green Future Foundation Bangladesh partnered in organising the competition.