Kolkata: West Bengal government has decided to offer paid internships to college students for working in its projects. Sources in the state administration said that recently the Cabinet has approved the plan. However, the State Government is yet to issue any notification in this regard.
The decision evoked mixed reactions among student leaders and education experts. While the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad(TMCP), the students' wing of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) lauded the scheme, the Students Federation of India (SFI), the students' wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expressed doubt whether the scheme will yield any result.
"Our Chief Minister is always by the side of students. Recently, many distressed students gained access to higher education through the Student Credit Card Scheme. While the Prime Minister of the country is pushing them towards an uncertain future on the pretext of being self-reliant. The Chief Minister of Bengal is trying to make the students self-reliant by arranging internships for them. In this way, children will be able to learn a lot while pursuing higher education and will be able to build their own careers," TMCP leader Raju Mehedi said.
SFI's Kolkata district president Debanjan Dey said, "the Chief Minister has said such things earlier also but none of them has been fruitful. There is a tenure for this internship. But has the possibility of permanent employment been ruled out? The students will be kept in different camps and will be paid a meagre Rs 5000."
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"The government wants to dodge the responsibility of giving them jobs in the future. This internship does not mean that they will get a job anywhere. Industries, service units and manufacturing units are closed in the state. Besides, we can see the employment situation in the state if we follow the Calcutta High Court verdicts in one after another case," he added.
However, educationalist Pabitra Sarkar said that it will be better if the scholarships for the economically and socially backward students, which have been closed for so long, are resumed immediately.
"It is not yet clear whether they will be able to show their certificates after the internship, or whether there will be a permanent solution to the problem of unemployment. It is a temporary consolation for the students. The benefits will be much more if the chances of getting a government job increase with these internships," he added.
