Paid jobs, but transparency in selection may become an issue.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW DELHI: Aping Capitol Hill’s long-standing system of hiring budding politicians to be interns, India’s government is now accepting applications for interns of its own.
India’s government has announced that it will being reviewing applications for interns, reports The Hindustan Times, a concept it has apparently taken specifically from the UPA government, which had a similar program in place. These interns will work in a variety of different government departments, and will be paid Rs. 10,000 per month.
Only students may apply to this program, which will naturally be incredibly competitive. Selections will be made by a joint committee of secretaries in each of the departments accepting interns, although there is no minimum or maximum number on how many interns a department may accept, not is there any regulation saying all departments must have the same number of interns.
Interns will be eligible for recognitions such as Employee of the Month, and other such commendations, although their salaries will likely remain the same. The length of these internships is only meant to be a few months, likely in-between school terms as students look to occupy their time outside of the classroom in a productive way.
The intern initiative is reportedly being spearheaded by the BJP government, which is now running the show in New Delhi. The internship experience, says party leaders, provides invaluable mentorship opportunities for India’s upcoming politicians, who the BJP apparently hopes it can groom into its own image at a young age.
In spite of recent hardships between the US and India, it’s clear that the BJP and India’s government still see the US intern program as something valuable. Capitol Hill interns typically do little more than get coffee, take lunch orders, pass notes, and act as runners between offices, but the contacts made and experiences gained during these times pay dividends in the long run.
Interns have been at the center of scandals in the US, however, involving sexual harassment and other such activities. India, which is always in the news for sex-related crimes, will have to be careful to avoid this issue lest it bring more bad publicity to the country’s new government.