After successfully implementing the concept of low-cost canteens (Amma Unavagam), the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) Department has come up with another interesting initiative — ‘catch them young.’
Under an internship scheme, the Department will throw open municipal corporations, municipalities, town panchayats, the Tamil Nadu Water Supply Drainage Board and Chennai Metrowater to students of various disciplines for internship.
A senior official says the programme will expose young and unemployed graduates to the urban sector. Those running various arms of the Department can tap into the services of the youth for tasks such as data collection and literature review.
Another official indicates that the Department as a whole may benefit from the programme as the youth may produce new ideas and solutions to many old problems with which the authorities have been struggling for years.
Among the areas likely to be covered under internship are urban poverty, sanitation, waste management, e-governance, human resources, municipal finance and accounts, town planning, civil engineering and architecture, energy efficiency and visual communication. Graduates or postgraduates can apply for the scheme, which will be launched by the office of Commissioner of Municipal Administration (CMA) in October.
According to the CMA’s office, which oversees the functioning of 11 municipal corporations (excluding Chennai) and 124 municipalities, the duration of internship will be a minimum of two months and a maximum of six months. A monthly stipend of Rs. 10,000 will be given to each intern. Applications can be sent throughout the year. The CMA’s office has laid down eligibility criteria.
Certain requirements may vary from one arm of the Department to another, a policymaker says, pointing out that the TWAD Board and Metrowater, essentially engineering bodies, may have different conditions.