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Today we have a  very unique and special internship story – Lok Sabha Internship experience!

Let’s learn more about it. (We have a wealth of information to share with you!)

InternFeel: Please tell us something about yourself. Where and what are you studying currently?

Hina Firdaus: I am Hina Firdaus, completed engineering in June 2018 and completed my M.Tech in Computer Science from Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi and currently preparing for my Ph.D.

Apart from engineering I like to sing, paint, and animate. I have a YouTube Channel with my name. I also have a huge interest in Indian and world politics, History, literature, and Culture.

IF: Give us details about your internship – process of application, stipend, duration, and place?

HF: I did a three months internship (July-Oct) in Lok Sabha under the Speaker’s research initiative started by our Honourable speaker ma’am Smt. Sumithra Mahajan.  In this internship a student from the field like engineering, humanities, law, mass communication, literature, finance etc. With a good academic background including research, aptitude can seek opportunity. The internship is for one month and three months. In one month internship the undergraduate students were also welcomed and in three months internship, it is strictly for postgraduate and doctorate students.

Application process:

The application process is pretty simple. The portal http://sri.nic.in/ have the application link during the month of March to April. So interested candidate can look in the mentioned link for application submission. The candidate has to extra submit their resume and Statement of Purpose (SOP) is not more than 500 words they also need the letter of recommendation from your present college or university Dean/HOD/principal.

Stipend:

This year the stipend for three months was Rs. 20,000/- pm with additional Rs. 10,000/ for writing and stationery expenses.

Duration and place:

One month and Three-month internship are there from the period of June to October. We have to work in Parliament of India where we allowed moving in Parliament library building, Parliament House, and Parliament House Annexure.

HF: The selection process was very competitive as this year twenty-nine thousand candidates applied in which only 150 candidates got selected for both one and three-month internships. The Member of parliament like Mr. Prahlad Singh Patel underwent supervision of the selection process and choose the best of the candidate.

Qualities which helped me cut through the competition I guess is my research aptitude as I have the inclination to work for human development and sustainability. I have even written papers and done research in sustainability in Healthcare using Machine learning. Apart from this, I have done many works to uplift and empower the women. My academic profile is clean without any red mark.

They are mostly looking for the student who is good in academics as that make a serious student because all the student reached there was gold medalist or had strong background knowledge in their field of interest. They are reading the SOP very carefully so better show some honesty before writing any gibberish opinion. Have some interest in researching and learning because to survive this internship one must be enthusiastic to learn and adopt new things without any complains lots of paper and research work they are going to deal here.

If one is preparing for state public sectors exams and union public services exam grab this opportunity.

IF: Could you please highlight the work/research you carried out during your internship period?

HF: In my term for three months, I helped in preparing reports for finance and estimates committee on higher education. For that one long month, intensive study and research were done where the additional director and the officer’s guided me to make that report which got submitted to the director of the committee. After that we got shifted to various branches of parliament like table office, legislative branches, LSTV, LAARDIS etc. one week in each department so we can learn the functions of the parliamentary bodies.

At the end we have to make a dissertation report in not more than 2000 words the best report will get published in parliament journal and rest will get compiled and archived in the central library of Parliament.

IF: Can you give us interesting details about your experience – good and bad? (It could be something like the amazing location of your internship, the friends you made for life, a bad senior, accommodation given in case of an outstation internship and something along that line.)

HF: This internship is purely non-technical if a person is having an interest in politics, history, social science, psychology etc., preparing for government exams, doing Ph.D. in non-technical subject grab the opportunity. As the medical and engineering student will not gain any fruitful learning out from it except a wonderful elite experience of working in parliament.

My personal experience was great I will say. I really enjoyed my time over there as the staff of parliament are very cordial and smiling (except those security guards I was really scared of them 😉 ). You get a chance to meet some best mind from all over the India which teaches one we are so diverse still we can unite with such a great love and respect. We can easily approach a member of parliament and the officer’s and learn from them.

Only one issue of accommodation is there for the candidate coming from another state then Delhi. For them, I would like to suggest to get PG’s, hostel or rent a room in areas like Munirka, Patel Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, Sangam Vihar/ Tigri, GTB Nagar, Mukherjee Nagar, as these areas are student area very cheap and affordable easy connectivity with Sansad Bhawan.

The food is not at all the problem the canteen will get open at 9 am in parliament so one can prevail the cheap, tasty, and healthy breakfast. Whole breakfast, lunch, and brunch on an average can cost a person Rs.60 per day very cheap from what you get outside.

The fun part is easily accessible to the library which is very huge with very ancient documents I got Goosebumps seeing the old handwritten document of before independence. You can even spot the great laureates and member of parliament in the library like Dr. Shashi Tharor, Jai Ram Ramesh, Ms. Menka Gandhi etc., you can even talk to them if you want to.

IF: How do you think this internship has helped you grow? In other words, what are your key takeaways from the internship?

HF: The best thing I learned from this internship was “best things never come free to us”. To survive this internship you need a good health, a strong mindset, and childlike heart. Many a time the co-workers are very depressing and they will disappoint you more than anything so focus on your aim and goal why you are joining this internship.

This Lok Sabha internship gave me my long old lost habit of reading books. So, now I am more inclined towards researching and reading. Working with the parliamentary committees will teach one how to be organized and keep oneself updated daily, do cross check with the originality and more importantly you have to be creative.

IF: Has this internship had a decision altering impact on your career? Do you now think of a different future path as compared to before doing the internship?

HF: Yes, obviously. I didn’t know we had such a great career in parliament this internship was a myth buster in many ways. So, in future, if I needed more stable and creative job I will surely apply for parliamentary officer post as currently, I have my focus in Ph.D. so I can’t give much insight about it. Certainly, any person interested to work in parliament must take this internship or one who is not sure what to do after even post graduation can take this internship as it will open your eyes for the vast possibilities.

IF: Lastly, do you have any words of advice or caution for students aspiring for this internship and reading this piece?

HF: This is all my personal experience as I am from a technical engineering background because of my right attitude I learned a lot and incorporated this learning in my personality as a learning curve for my career. So, if you are creative, enthusiastic, pessimist, and determined about your decision go for this internship there are many perks as they will give you Agra and Delhi tour, House interaction, attending workshop with dignitaries and experts followed with banquet hall brunch, bumping on IAS, IPS, IRS officer’s or even MP’s you won’t find these things in any other internship. If a person really need to do something crazy and with dedication do join Lok Sabha Internship.

I would like to rate this Lok Sabha internship on the scale on 0-10 as 9 stars 🙂

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