NEW DELHI: Come December and a number of engineering students will flock to district magistrate offices in about 150 districts in the country to learn about on-ground implementation of government policies under an ambitious plan by the AICTE.
The AICTE, under the HRD Ministry, had written to DMs of all 731 districts in India asking them to let engineering students, mostly in third year, intern with them. "Our vision is that this internship will expose the in-training engineers to how government departments function and in turn, DMs' offices could also benefit from the fresh inputs and ideas these students can bring," a senior official in the AICTE said.
The move was initiated after a pilot in Maharashtra's Dhule earlier this year. "We then requested DMs for winter and summer internship opportunities for engineering students," the official added. Under the scheme, every DM office will have 5-15 students. "We are not asking for any remuneration for the students but are keen that they get the opportunities close to their colleges," another official said.
The ministry, too, had written to the chief secretaries of all states to instruct the DMs in their states for opening their doors for the internship.However, only 150 DMs - mostly in UP, Maharashtra and Haryana - responded to the communique for the one- month internship. Officials in the ministry and AICTE insisted better response was expected for the two-month-long summer internships next June.
The initiative is part of an overhaul launched by the technical education regulator to improve the quality of education. “We thought taking students to DM’s office, which is where most central and state policies touch people directly, will be a great venture,” a source in the ministry said.