india

Updated: Jul 30, 2019 01:03 IST

Forty interns from premier engineering, law and management institutes are currently assisting 40 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentarians in the Lok Sabha in their legislative work, including preparation for discussions on key bills such as the triple talaq bill and the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill.

The interns have been drawn from Indian Institutes of Management, Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institute of Science, National Law School of India University and National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences among others. They have been picked to assist the MPs for the budget session of Parliament by a platform called Think India, which has on board members from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The office bearers of the foundation, however, said that the interns are not associated with the ABVP and the platform is open to allowing fellows assist MPs from all parties.

However, the first batch of interns has been attached with ruling party MPs under a programme called, “Sansadiya”.

According to the information posted on its website, Think India was set up with the purpose of “promoting social harmony, undertake activities in campus, support gender justice, and fulfil the needs of Bharat”.

On how the fellowship is different from the Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament (LAMP) Fellowship, offered by PRS Legislative Research, a non-profit organisation, an office-bearer of Think India said on the condition of anonymity, “Unlike the LAMP fellowship that is for a year, here the internship lasts only for the duration of a session. Since, most of these interns are from professional courses, it may not be possible for them to take a year off. Also, these are unpaid internships,” the office bearer said.

These interns, picked after a stringent selection process, are expected to assist MPs with research to back their interventions in Parliament. They help draft questions, Zero Hour submissions, prepare speeches and debates.

“We announced the internship in June, soon after the LoK Sabha results were declared, and received 550 applications. After examining the applications, checking their background, interests and experience we shortlisted 40. Most of these interns are not even members of the ABVP,” the office bearer cited above said.

He said the interns were placed with MPs after Think India wrote to BJP leader and union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi on June 13.

“Nearly 50% of the interns are from IITs. But all of them had a desire to get exposure to legislative processes and have a keen interest in public policy,” the office bearer said.