New Delhi, Nov. 3 -- In India, competitive debate has often been associated with elite English medium schools, where students with polished accents and private coaching dominate the activity. But across government schools in Hyderabad, a new initiative is working to break that mold by introducing structured debate training in Telugu, the language students speak at home.

Mahati, started in 2023 by Akhilesh Palakodeti, is a student-run nonprofit that provides Telugu language debate training to children in under-resourced schools. In less than two years, Mahati has conducted over 90 sessions with more than 1000 students, many of whom had never spoken before an audience.

What sets Mahati apart is its curriculum. The program uses more than 5...