As internship season hits its peak in India, it has become apparent that it is not just private companies, but government entities who are joining in on the hiring spree to get fresh new ideas and innovations from engineering students.
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) along with Human Resource and Development Ministry (MHRD) asked the district magistrates from over 700 districts in India to allow engineering students to intern with them. One of the key objectives of this uptake is to make the youth learn the on-ground implementation of government policies.
The month-long internship for June next year will enroll up to 15 students across 150 District Magistrate offices each. This includes offices in UP, Maharashtra and Haryana. However, their remuneration has not been specified yet.
“Our vision is that this internship will expose the in-training engineers to how government departments function and in turn, DM’s offices could also benefit from the fresh inputs and ideas these students can bring,” reported the New Indian Express, citing officials from AICTE.
Additionally, the Indian government is pushing heavily for on-the-job training at government offices as well. The MHRD recently announced its Internship scheme 2019 – for undergraduate and postgraduate students from India and overseas. This will allow students to assist the ministry with formulating policies, implementation, and reforms.
This is overall good news for students and fresh graduates in India. Amid rising skills gap and the increasing complexity of job positions, India’s youth are becoming increasingly reliant on internships to add work experience to their portfolio. Additionally, employers can better assess candidates during internship periods before hiring them.
India’s private sector has also seen a trend of hiring interns before rolling out offers to fresh graduates. This means that government offices offering internships only increases the opportunities for India’s youth to score a job.
“Recruiting future employees through internship programmes is a tried and tested technique amongst employers. It provides them with enough time to test the interns’ competencies for the job as well as to see if the candidates are culturally fit for their organization or not,” said Internshala – an online training and internship platform.
