Posted by What Is The Ministry of External Affairs?
The Ministry of External Affairs of India is the government agency responsible for implementing Indian foreign policy. The Ministry of External Affairs is headed by the Minister of External Affairs, a Cabinet Minister. The Foreign Secretary, an Indian Foreign Service officer, is the most senior civil servant who is the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry represents the Government of India through embassies and is also responsible for India’s representation at the United Nations and other international organizations and expanding and safeguarding India’s influence and Indian interests across the world by providing developmental aid to other countries worth billions of dollars. It also advises other Ministries and State Governments on foreign governments and institutions.
Ministry of External Affairs is launching the second edition of the MEA Internships Programme for the year 2023-24. The second edition of the programme is aimed towards continuing the aim of the Ministry to bring in more focus on MEA to provide value to the interns; to ensure better gender inclusivity and to increase diversity in terms of qualifications, domicile and socio-economic status amongst the cohort of interns engaged by the Ministry.
What Are The Details Of The Opportunity?
- Commencement of Internship: 1 April 2024
- Location: New Delhi
- Eligibility: Internships at MEA headquarters shall generally be open to Indian citizens with a minimum educational qualification of a graduate degree from a recognized university at the time of applying. Internships shall also be open to students who are presently in the final year of their graduation, where an internship is a mandatory part of their final year curriculum. Age of the candidates should not exceed 25 years as on 31 December of the year of internship.
- Intake and duration:
- Every year, internships will be offered in two terms of six months each viz. April to September and October to March.
- A maximum of 30 interns will be engaged by the Ministry during each term.
- Each intern will be engaged for a minimum period of one month and a maximum period of three months.
- Applications Deadline: 14 January 2024
- Stipend:
- An honorarium of INR 10,000 per month will be paid to each intern to defray basic costs.
- Cost of one-time to and fro air travel subject to a ceiling of the prevailing economy class air fare between the State capital and Delhi, from the domicile State or from the college / university of the selected candidates will be provided.
- The interns would be responsible for their board and lodging in Delhi during the period of their internship.
- Selection Procedure:
- The selection process will be fully online at www.internship.mea.gov.in with applications, scrutiny, selection, allocation of Division, notification,extension and certification to be managed on a dedicated internship portal of the Ministry. Each candidate needs to register on the internship portal and obtain access credentials to participate in the process.
- The selection process will consist of two stages viz. Preliminary Screening and Personal Interview. The process will follow a quota cum weightage’ system whereby applicants belonging to 14 States and 4 Union Territories will be considered in each term as per the table below. There may be 26 interns from the 14 States; 02 interns from the 4 Union Territories and 02 more interns with maximum marks from TADP districts / underprivileged sections of the society. A minimum of 30% may be filled by women candidates. Weightage will be based on academic performance assessed by percentage of marks obtained in +2 and graduation exams.
- Candidates should apply online only. State-wise merit lists will be prepared – separately for male and female candidates by elimination based on academic performance in +2 and graduation exams. Priority will be given to applicants from TADP districts during the Preliminary Screening stage and to applicants belonging to SC/ST/OBC/EWS categories in the Personal Interview stage.
- The total number of candidates called for interview will be three times the interns to be engaged in each term. Candidates selected in the merit lists will be called for personal interview to be conducted by videoconferencing. A maximum of 30 candidates will be selected from the interview process and offered internships. If any selected candidate opts out, the next candidate in the merit list from the individual state will be offered opportunity.
- During the course of the internship, the selected candidates would be introduced to various aspects of the functioning of the Ministry, its attached offices, the public interface of the Ministry and its role in helping the Indian citizens.
- Timeline:
- 1 January 2024: Notification and Call for applications for Term – I, 2024
- 19 January 2024: Announcement of short-listed candidates, and; calls for interview
- 3 February 2024: Interviews (DVC)
- 9 February 2024: Announcement of selected candidates
- Obligations of the intern:
- The internship programme provides an introduction to the process of formulation of foreign policy and its implementation by the Government of India. Interns will be assigned specific topics of work by the concerned Head of Division (HOD) and may be required to conduct research, write reports, analyze evolving developments or carry out any other task entrusted to them by the HOD.
- At the end of the internship, each intern shall submit a detailed report on the work carried out and, if required, make a presentation on it. The outcome of study during the internship will remain as intellectual property of the Ministry of External Affairs and interns shall not use it without prior approval of the Ministry. The intern shall maintain full confidentiality of any information relating to the Ministry of External Affairs
For More Information:
For any query email : internship@mea.gov.in
CLICK HERE For The Notification
CLICK HERE To Visit The Ministry Of External Affairs Website
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