Budding politicos

Through their internship,they’ve discovered the real side of the profession and are better armed for their future in this stream. Shares Vasanth Kumar,who has actively staged protests and held marches and hunger strikes,“I wanted to take up developmental activities at the grass root level and the exposure I got after my internship has been really valuable.” Like in most other fields,Indian politics is discovering the benefits of interns or legislative assistants,who,while learning about governance,help parliamentarians research policy issues and make informed decisions. A lot of MPs in India,like their western counterparts,are using the services of legislative assistants to get to the bottom of policy issues and make informed interventions in parliament. Shares Vandana,who has recently applied for an internship with a Rajya Sabha Member of the State,“I feel there is a lot that can be done in terms of gender and bias towards one category specifically. So I have applied to work with a Rajya Sabha member whose political ideology is similar to what I support. I am looking forward to a good learning process during this internship.”

While on one hand,political parties are welcoming this extra energy,on the other hand,they’re treading cautiously and thoroughly scanning each applicant. The students need to have a good portfolio and a strong inclination towards the political party’s ideology and should be equipped with the grit to make it through. Says Shehzad Poonawalla,who is currently the vice president of the youth arm of a national political party,“When I interned with the media cell,the internship helped me a lot. If you are born into a political party,you are bound to be groomed,but for others like me,an internship helped see things at a close range. One can really realise how the entire system has to be negotiated; one can also get an opportunity to network with all the important people.”

And while most of these young men and women with an idea of changing the mute spectator theory come out and dedicate themselves to the political groups,it is the strong,passionate ones who will actually make a difference. As Poonawalla concludes,“If we know what the problem is,why not get into it and change it?”