SHASHWAT GUPTA RAY
While the stage was being set at the au ditorium of School of Chemical Sciences, Goa University to welcome Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla on Friday, April 10, a young female student from Goa University’s School of International and Area Studies (SIAS) named Prachi Prashant Kerkar, took the centre stage by making periodic announcements for the packed audience.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
The Mapusa girl’s con fidence drew appreci ation from not just the senior faculty members in the audience but also Director of Parliamenta ry Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE), Lok Sabha Sec retariat, Prashant Malik, who was a witness to sim ilar poise demonstrated by Kerkar on December 25, 2025 in the packed Central Hall of the Sam vidhan Sadan (old Parlia ment House), where she had delivered a speech on former Prime Minister, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as part of the ‘Know Your Leader’ programme. Kerkar spoke in front of the elected leaders from across the country.
She was the only Goan student to get selected for this pro gramme. “We had a series of se lection rounds and based on my performance, I was selected to be one of the speakers to represent Goa. It started with a quiz and later we had to present views about our national leaders. So I spoke about Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji on December 25, 2025, which is also his birth anni versary. It was quite a priv ilege because there were only 12 speakers from the country and I was one of them,” Kerkar told O Her aldo. Sharing her experience of representing her State at the highest level, she said that it gave her a sense of pride. “I felt proud because I was selected not only to represent Goa University, but also my State. I wasn’t nervous at all because I think my University’s con stant support has given me the confidence to take on any kind of challenge.
My faculty has always given me the confidence to present my views in the most articulate and professional way possi ble and I thank the Goa University for that. This experience has given my dream a soul. I now am confident of dreaming big and making them a reality one day,” she said. She also thanked the Uni versity Grants Commission (UGC) and the PRIDE for giving her this opportunity and above all, her mother, for her constant encourage ment. Lauding her achieve ment, Rahul Tripathi Pro fessor in Political Science at Goa University, said, “Prachi has been one of our outstanding students. She has a deep passion for learning, be it language, politics, society and na ture. She was identified as one best suited to repre sent Goa in the parliamen tary event and she made us proud.”
