Working with government: ambition, learning & fun

I have had my experience of working/interacting with government organisations. Some very pleasant & some not so pleasant, but each of these experiences tough me something valuable. Let me talk about some of the projects that I have led so far & learning that I have had from them.

AICTE

Once there was a news that AICTE has made internships compulsory for all engineering students. We wanted to reach out to AICTE & partner with them so that along with awareness opportunities also could be created for students.

I first reached out to the Director of Skill Development, AICTE. There was no response, even after follow-ups. I then reached out to the Chairman, Dr Anil Sahasrabudhhe. I followed up couple of times & heard back – it was a pleasant surprise that we heard sooner that we had expected. It was an invitation for a meeting – we were supposed to go there & present Internshala and how the partnership would work.    

After the first meeting, there were two more meetings to discuss the MoU & sign the MoU, respectively. All happened very swiftly.

When we sign an MoU & we put all the efforts to execute the deliverables agreed upon by both the parties. I must admit that AICTE has been very cooperative in executing the deliverables agreed by both the parties. It was the collaborative effort that we’re able to help close to 25,000 students find an internship in less than a year, and AICTE was very pleased with the result. This also led to us celebrating ‘Internship Day’.

AICTE includes Internshala to almost all the ecosystem (internships & startups) meetings & counts on our inputs. I see AICTE very open to new ideas & perspectives. Below is picture of a workshop that happened in Jaipur; interacting with the then Education Minister of Rajasthan & Vice Chairman of AICTE, talking about internships landscape in Rajasthan.

NITI Aayog

We had an opportunity to work with NITI Aayog for Intern with Icon. We reached out to Mr Amitabh Kant’s office requesting his participation in Intern with Icon & Mr Kant was kind enough to oblige us with our request.

The entire experience of interacting with the team has been very positive & hassle-free. Our POC at NITI Aayog was an IIM graduate. I was also very pleased to see the openness with which the team operated. The team was very much involved; and thoroughly helped us with closing the internship position!

This projected also led to help us build a good relationship with Mr Kant’s office.

AP Janmanbhoomi (Government of Andhra Pradesh)

AP Janmabhoomi is an initiative of Government of Andhra Pradesh; this wing is responsible for implementing social projects (cleanliness awareness, digital literacy, protection of cremation grounds & cemeteries) that are decided by AP government.

We had an opportunity to work with AP Janmabhoomi for its Digital Literacy Program. The objective of the program was to prepare government school teachers for digital classrooms that government is building in schools in the state. AP Janmabhumi decided to drive the Digital Literacy Program with the help of interns & partnered with Internshala to hire about 1000 interns.

Our experience of working with AP Janmanbhoomi team has been very positive; the team was very responsive, efficient and open to ideas. In fact, the name ‘Digital Literacy Program’ was suggested by us and among all the other names that was discussed, they picked what we had suggested.  

We’re still in the touch with the team & they regularly keep hiring interns for different roles. 

Government of Maharashtra

Well, the good thing is, we are coming up with something interesting. And it would be a great news for students of Maharashtra ??

The conversation started when we worked with the CMO to help them hire Chief Minister Fellowship. The hiring on Internshala went smooth & great. The team was so impressed that they came back to hire summer interns through Online Summer Internship Fair’18 (our flagship event).

Well, the good thing is, we are coming up together with something interesting. Will update this once make progress. Stay tuned. 

Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology

We once got a call from MeitY. They wanted to discuss how Internshala can help in their skill development initiatives. They requested if someone from Internshala could come & discuss things with MeitY. We went and had our first meeting – it was mostly about how Internshala can help place students that are receiving training at NIELIT.

This meeting was followed by another meeting where things got broader – what can Internshala do to create internship & training opportunities in North East. And there were more meetings about it. Eventually, MeitY asked to make a plan for pilot in North East & on the performance of the pilot we’ll scale up the activities in the region. We did make plan & shared it with our POC (who reported into the Secretary).

In the course of this primary discussion, there was another discussion. We wanted to reach out to ministries & check if they would like Internshala to help them create an internship program within the ministry. And we asked our POC if you’d be able to connect with the right person at the different ministries. And the person said yes – that yes very reassuring. Later only I realised that it was just talk; there was no action that followed it.

What happened to the North East project plan that I had shared? I got to hear on that. But only after a year. I learned that the ministry got busy making a vision document for the region hence no communication. Below is a screenshot of the document -

Well, the request was repeated – if we could come down for a meeting. I wanted to go, but I wanted an action, not just words. I said I would be happy to come down, but I have a few queries I would like clarity on. I documented my queries & emailed, in September 2018.

I will update this section when (or if) I hear from them ??

Various Ministries, President House & Vice President office

We wanted to talk to ministries if they would like Internshala to help them create an internship program within ministries & engage youth. For this, I reached out to ministries, all the big ones – Finance, External Affairs, Railway, Science & Technology, Home, Textile, and few more. It was a lot of effort to be able to get in touch with the right people.

Though my effort was a spectacular failure, I did get a chance to

• Talk to the Secretary of the Ministry of Railway (he called me :D)
• Meet Minister of Science & Technology, Mr. Harsh Vardhan (I didn’t take a selfie – I don’t do that)
• Meet with the Deputy Secretary of the Vice President of India (unknowingly I had pissed him off bad; he was a very graceful person, though)
• Meet the Secretary of Ministry of Urban Development (an IAS officer- she was very humble; very simply dressed; an inspiration!)  
• Meet the Secretary of Ministry of North East Development – they already an internship program & they did use Internshala platform to hire. Yay! :D
• Learn a good deal about ministries. Now that I am talking about learning, here is a tip for you – reach out to Deputy Secretary, the decision maker.   

PMO

We wanted to create an internship program similar to White House internship program.

When it took me weeks just to be able to contact to the right person at ministries, how much time it’s going to take to be able to get in touch with the right person at PMO, the apex office of the country – thinking this Sarvesh (CEO & founder at Internshala) suggested to get from NITI Aayog.

I did that. Bingo! Next day I was getting calls (I was surprised :O) from the PMO.

Speaking to the officer from the PMO felt less of a conversation & more of an interrogation (but with grace). I was overwhelmed with the questions. Once the officer was satisfied with my answers, he asked to meet, “I would be able to give 10 mins”. I said I would be grateful for that.

We went. That 10 mins meeting went for more than an hour! We couldn’t find a common ground, though.  

Stay tuned. I will update this section once (or if) I make some progress :D

Below are my learning/understanding from entire journey –

1. Have a clear ask - they don't have time to sit down & contemplate what you can do together.
2. Always reach out to the decision maker – you will save lot of time.
3. Be respectful in your communication. In government offices, they prefer to write - Shri <full name> ji.
4. Follow up until you get an answer.
5. Be patient. You will get an answer.
6. If you know someone who can help, ask for help.
7. If you deal with independent government entities (AICTE, AP Janmabhoomi, NITI Aayog, etc), things move faster.
8. With ministries, it’s different ballgame.
9. The government wants to do good. But the system is so bulky & outdated & inefficient that it becomes difficult to progress fast.