Govt depts to have students as interns
Concept introduced during UPA regime had a cold start; Modi govt giving the idea a constructive push
NEW DELHI: Taking a cue from the UPA gover nment, t he Centre has decided t o recruit students as inter ns in various departments for a monthly remuneration of ` 10,000.
The conce pt introduced during the UPA regime didn’t really kick off successfully then. But now, the NDA government is giving the idea a stronger push.
“The two-way interaction would be beneficial for both (gover nment and inter ns). The inter ns can give new ideas to the officials and help them finetune gover nment programmes,” a senior government official said.
The selection would be made by a committee of joint secretaries in each department and the applications would be invited by each department through a public announcement.
An intern working in the planning commission, who was not willing to be quoted, found the experience of working with the government “refreshing”. “The government is warehouse of sta-
SELECTION TO BE MADE BY PANEL OF JOINT SECYS IN EACH DEPT AND APPLICATIONS TO BE INVITED THROUGH PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
tistical knowledge and best practices on the issues I am working on. The experience would help me a lot in my PhD,” she added.
Another inter n who has worked with the rural development department did not find officials encouraging as they were considered outsiders. “They (officials) didn’t have time for us and made me do some office work,” he added.
Now, the BJP government wants all departments to hire interns on the basis of a project proposal.
“We also want that seniorlevel officials should mentor them during internship and help them in completing their project which could be useful for the government,” an official said, adding that they would get internship certificate only after completing the project.
The department of personnel and training (DoPT) has also asked the departments to install “idea boxes” to solicit some “out-of-the-box” suggestions from officers to create conducive work culture and improve functioning of the departments.
A senior officer will have to examine each suggestion and see whether they are worth implementing or not.
The department has also asked ministries to employee of the month award for outstanding officials.
“Nominations from all eligible employees would be called for from all wings of the department and would be examined by a committee of joint secretaries which could meet once a month,” a DoPT circular issued last month said.