IIM interns may get an inside look at govt depts

NEW DELHI: IIM graduates may soon be able to get a first-hand experience of the working of the government. Acting on a directive by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, various ministries including finance are formulating a strategy to rope in B-school graduates during their internship.

The B-school graduates have to do an internship to get a hands on experience as part of their course. At present, the internships are restricted to the private sector or public sector units.

The government departments do not offer such an opportunity. Taking cognisance of this fact, Mr Singh had highlighted the issue and emphasised on the need to involve them in the government.

Sources said government departments may formulate selective projects for them to work on. They could also get stipend for it. Sources also said the idea was to utilise the expertise of B-school graduates to improve the working of government departments. The internship will give students exposure to the working of the government before they enter the job market.

The entry government services is mainly through competitive examinations. So B-school grads will not be directly employed in the government after they pass out, but their exposure will make it easy for developing industry-government interface, which is crucial in an open economy.

As a part of this exercise, the revenue department has already held a meeting to chalk out its strategy. The meeting was chaired by Parthasarathy Shome, adviser to the Union finance minister P Chidambaram.

The officials of the revenue department have identified sectors like international taxation, where the expertise of these students could come in handy. Similarly, other ministries especially those in the infrastructure sectors will also work out projects for these students, to use their expertise in pushing reforms.