THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For the first time in their history, the Chemical Examiner’s Laboratories, which provide independent scientific services to the criminal administrative system, will officially provide internship opportunity for students.
The decision was taken with the objective of providing hands-on training to students in forensic and allied sciences as such opportunities are rare in the state. The project will be implemented on a pilot-basis at its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram from January.
As many as 10 students will be provided internship at a time and the duration of their stint can extend up to three months, Chief Chemical Examiner N K Renjith told TNIE.
“If the pilot project is successful, we will extend the facility to the regional labs in Ernakulam and Kozhikode,” he said.
Internship will be provided in the narcotic, toxicology, general chemistry, excise and serology wings. Undergraduate, postgraduate, and research students in the streams of chemistry (any branch), biochemistry and forensic science can apply. The deadline for the submission of applications is December 25 and the selection will be made after a detailed interview.
The internship programme, however, carries a fee. Students from Kerala institutions will have to pay Rs 1,000 per month and those from outside the state will be charged Rs 2,000. While the state government was initially reluctant to the proposal of the laboratory officials to charge the students, the officials managed to convince the government by pointing out the huge expenses involved in providing training.
Meanwhile, the government has directed the lab officials to ensure that the confidential nature of the work being done at the laboratory is protected. To prevent undesirable elements from misusing the facility, the laboratory has made it mandatory for the students to produce police verification certificates at the time of admission.
The laboratory used to infrequently allow students to do internship unofficially, mostly recommended by politicians and bureaucrats, to gain work experience. However, a section of laboratory officials expressed reservation against the policy, which they felt was exclusive in nature, and began batting for officially admitting all eligible students.
Examines material objects
Operating under the home department, the Chemical Examiner’s Labs in T’Puram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode are responsible for conducting examination of material objects sent to it by courts and investigating agencies and the reports they file are considered valid evidence
Serology wing examines material objects connected to murder, rape and Pocso cases
Toxicology wing deals with detection of poison and alcohol in blood samples
Excise wing deals with Abkari cases while, the narcotic wing deals with analysis of drugs