Rajya Sabha Internship Programme attended by Law Department Students

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Date: Aug 11, 2023

Submitted by:
Philashongdor Khongiong
Phrangsngi Pdang
Saaba Zareen Saleh
Samedaphisan Dkhar

The Rajya Sabha Internship Programme (RSIP) was the first of its kind. It is the brainchild of the Honourable Vice President of India, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar. He particularly ensured to open the opportunity to five states of the North East â?? Meghalaya, Mizoram, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura. Four students of each state’s universities were invited to attend the internship programme. A total of twenty students (10 boys and 10 girls) attended the programme, all from the social science background varying from Departments of Mass Communication & Journalism, Social Work, Political Science, Anthropology, Sociology, Sanskrit, Hindi, Economics, History & Ethnography and Law.

The RSIP formally commenced on the 31st of July, 2023 and concluded on the 11th of August, 2023. Upon arrival at the Delhi airport, we were picked up by Smt. Atreyee Ghosh, who was one of the Research Officers at the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. A vehicle was arranged to convey us from the airport to our residence, Western Court MP’s Hostel at Janpath, New Delhi. Double bedded rooms were allotted to us.

A very brief meeting with the coordinators along with students of other universities was held at the Western Court’s reception on the 30th of July, 2023. An informal round of introduction took place after which Ms. Saaba Zareen Saleh was elected as team leader. She was then assigned with necessary tasks.

Below is a detailed layout of all the programmes, interactive sessions and visits that had taken place over the course of two weeks -

Date & day	Time	Agenda	Venue
Day 0 (30.07.23) Sunday	Arrival of Interns (at least one day before the commencement of internship)		-
Day 1
Day 1 (31.07.23) Monday	10.30 AM - 12.00 Noon	Welcome and Orientation of Interns: • Introduction of Interns • Overview of the Internship Programme • Expectations from the Internship Programme • Briefing on the Internship Project/ Assignments/ Attachment (Dr. Raghab Prasad Dash, Joint Secretary & Dr. Rosey Saio Damodaran, Director)	Committee Room A, PHA
	12.00 Noon- 01.00 PM	Introduction to the Parliament of India (Rajya Sabha & Lok Sabha) and its Secretariat. • Hierarchical structure in the Secretariat • Statistical information of Staff, funds allocation, new initiatives taken etc. (Shri Rakesh Prasad, Joint Secretary)
	1.00PM - 2.30 PM	Lunch Break	Western Court Canteen
	2.30 PM - 03.00 PM	Interactive Session with the Director/Addl. Director, PSS on the Dos and Don’ts in the Parliament Complex for interns. (Shri Sunil Shokeen, Additional Director) (LARRDIS TEAM)	Committee Room A, PHA
	3.00. PM - 04.00 PM	Visit to the Parliament Library (Amin & Atreyee)	Committee Room A, PHA
Day 2
Day 2 (01.08.2023) Tuesday	10.30 AM- 12. Noon	Interactive Session with Officers of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat (Administrative Sections) on a brief overview of the functioning of: â®? Question Branch, Members Amenities Section; Members’ Salaries & Allowance Branch; General Administration Section (Shri Swarabji, Joint Secretary) LI (LARRDIS TEAM)	Committee Room A, PHA
	12 Noon - 1.00PM	Session on legislative processes and role of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha (Shri K. Sudhakaran, Joint Secretary) LI (LARRDIS TEAM)
	1.00PM - 2.30PM	Lunch Break	Western Court Canteen
	2.30PM - 3.30PM	Session on the functioning of Parliament, including the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of LI Business in the Rajya Sabha/Lok Sabha (Shri Pradeep Chaturvedi, Joint Secretary) (LARRDIS TEAM)
	3.30PM - 5.00PM	Research Work related to the Internship (Ratan, Amin and Atreyee) LI
Day 3
Day 3 (02.08.23) Wednesday	11.00AM -1.00PM	Observation of Proceedings of the Rajya Sabha (Sudhir & Atreyee)
		Visit to some Sections of the Secretariat located in the PH/PH Annexe (Sudhir & Atreyee) LI
	1.00PM -  2.00PM	Lunch Break	Western Court Canteen
	2.00PM - 4.00PM	Observation of Proceedings of the Lok Sabha (Sudhir & Atreyee)	-
Day 4
Day 4 (03.08.23) Thursday	10.30AM - 11.30AM	Session with PRIDE, Lok Sabha on Research and Reference Services provided to Members (Shri Prashant Malik, Director (PRIDE)	Committee Room LI A, PHA
	1.00PM - 2.15Pm	Lunch Break	Western Court Canteen
	2.15PM - 3.30PM	Session on the Role of Parliamentary Diplomacy in International Relations (Shri S. Jason, Joint Secretary) LI	Committee Room LI ‘A’ PHA
	3.30PM - 5.00PM	Research Work related to the Internship	Computer Centre, PRIDE, PLB
Day 5
Day 5 (04.08.23)	10.30AM - 11.30 AM	Session on Parliamentary Committee System (DR. Raghab Prasad Dash, Joint Secretary) (Ratan & Atreyee)	Committee Room 4, PHAE
	11.30AM - 1.00PM	Interactive Session with the Officers of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat (Committee Sections) on a brief overview of the functioning of: • Committee PPG, Home, H&FW, EWCY&S • Subordinate Legislations & Petitions (DS/Addl. Director level officers of the Committees) (Ratan & Atreyee)
	1.00AM - 2.30PM	Lunch Break	Western Court Canteen
	2.30PM - 3.30 PM	Visit to Department related Parliamentary Standing Committee (DRPSC) Sections serviced by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat (Ratan & Atreyee)	Committee Room 4, PHAE
	3.30PM - 5.00PM	Allocation of Attachment of Interns with Sections/Committees of the Secretariat (by Director, LARRDIS) • Research Work related to the Internship	Committee Room 4, PHAE
Day 6
Day 6 (05.08.23) Saturday	11.00AM - 1.00PM	Visit to Sansad TV Studio (Anuj & Saleem)	Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Marg
	1.00PM - 2.30PM	Lunch Break	Western Court Canteen
	2.30PM - 5.00PM	Visit to the Pradhan Mantri Sanghrahalaya (Anuj & Saleem)
		Day 7 (11.00AM to 5.00PM) Sunday, 06.08.23 Visit to Rashtrapati Bhavan (Anuj & Saleem)
Day 8
Day 8 to Day 11 (4 days) (07.08.23 to 10.08.23) (Monday -  Thursday)	10.00AM - 5.00PM	Attachment with Committee/ Sections of theSecretariat ‘Meet your MP’ A short programme where the interns will interact with some Members of Parliament (Amin & Atreyee)	Committee Room 4, PHAE
Day 12
Day 12 (11.08.23) Friday	10.30AM - 1.00PM	Presentation to be made by the interns	Committee Room 4, PHAE
	1.00PM - 2.15PM	Official Lunch	Banquet Hall PHA
	2.15PM - 5.00PM	Address of the Hon’ble Vice President and Chairman Rajya Sabha followed by distribution of Certificates of Internship	Vice President’s Residence
		Conclusion of the Internship Programme

Concluding Remarks

We express our sincerest gratitude to the Vice Chancellor of NEHU, Dean of Social Sciences and Head of Department (Law) for having faith in our capabilities. Your selection has paved the way for us to be in the history books of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat as the fist batch of interns of the Rajya Sabha Internship Programme. We have all utilized this opportunity to the best of our abilities and we hope that our engagement in the programme has brought laurels not only to the university but to the state as well.

The past two weeks have been nothing short of overwhelming learning experiences and insightful inputs from experts of various fields. The RSIP has given us a glimpse of what goes on beyond broadcasted Parliamentary proceedings and most importantly, it has unleashed new dreams and aspirations, be it in terms of job opportunities or research.

The programme has equipped us with many appreciable skills. Some of us have overcome the fear of public speaking through the numerous interactive sessions with Rajya Sabha officials. We have picked up on addressing people of various backgrounds and qualifications. We have learnt how to make new acquaintances and developed habits of sticking to a schedule, while balancing research work as well as familiarizing ourselves with the new place.

It has, indeed, been a marvelous experience not only for the students of North Eastern Hill University but for all the students of other universities. The Vice President’s mention of the RSIP in his speech at the Rajya Sabha has also immensely filled our hearts with pride and joy. We hope to be in similar programmes in the near future.