INTRODUCTION
The students working as an intern in an organisation face many hardships and thus have to bear the harsh acts of the host organisation towards themselves. Now the time has come for the legislation that shall act as a governing body for the interns facing various day-to-day issues. Many attempts have been made but still have failed to enact a particular law for safeguarding interns in their early life of exposure to the world.
THE ISSUES WITH INTERNS
A proper internship period includes various difficult hardships that are faced by the interns like the training, the environment of work and the excessive workload, which will somehow change the life of an intern and make them learn the values of life and prepare them for the future. But at last, the internship is still a field that is not governed under any law or statutes by which various difficulties arise in payment of minimum wages and proper redressal mechanism which is available to any permanent employee.
The host organisation under which they work tend to enforce a lot of pressure on the student’s so-called interns who easily become a victim of the act of the organisation ultimately leading to exhaustion and loss of the required productivity[1]. There are several internship schemes provided by the Government but only half of the student population is aware of them and it further remains a questioning factor towards the advertisement made for such schemes. The introduction to the field of internship in the National Education Policy 2020 was appreciated by all which included the criteria of internship in the (local industries, various businesses, artists, craft persons and research internships including higher level education)[2] but to date there is no presence for the implementation of these guidelines and procedures. The rights that are available for a permanent employee are not available to the interns who provide their services acting as a resource to the company and are left without any benefits.
THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Till today no particular legislation can be seen to govern the interns associated with the service sectors. In the international aspect, conducting the first international labour conference which included various international labour conventions for the benefit of labour that talk about the working hours, and criteria for employment both for men and women, all were ultimately for the benefit of the labour but not for the interns. Another act[3] came into the picture that provided specific practical training by the industries within the Central government to those individuals who are well qualified to promote the manpower including the engineers and any other diploma holders showing interest in this field but are not allowed for any legal backing support during the time of training period
The notion of apprentices can also be found in the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, of 1946 but specifically applies to industries with 100 or more workers. Various safeguards are provided only to the permanent workers but not to the training interns and the Factories Act of 1987 does not show any space for interns. The notion of unpaid internship does not stand illegal but differs in the countries like UK, the USA, Nova Scotia Labrador etc. Many of these countries have some or other legislation in this regard because of which the students who faced hardships were paid damages and hence it did lead to any filing of suits in this regard, The act[4] does apply to the ‘unorganised primary’ sector and does not apply to the interns[5].
The minimum period for an internship for a registered law student who is in a 3-year course stands for 12 weeks and 5-year course, it is 20 weeks as per the rules[6]. It was well accepted by the Delhi High Court on the 10th of January, 2020 as the period of internship puts a lot of undue pressure towards the student and at last, they are left with no means of securing themselves. The well initiative was taken by the division bench consisting of several justices like Siddharth Mridul and Najimi Waziri as the issuance of Suo motto cognizance stating that the Bar Council of India as well as any other institute which includes the students enrolled, will be only responsible for providing the required internship to the students of law as per the BCI rules[7].
A very important case[8] in which the question of fundamental rights issue was to include the interns as trainees and provide them with the protection of the law under the statute[9], but after several efforts, it was dismissed by the SC[10]. In this, the petitioner wants to focus on the issue that the interns have to work more than the fixed hours as the different periods by the internship providers. They exploit the interns as there is no law for safeguarding the interns as compared to a permanent employee or a trainee who has backing support of the law. We can usually see that the interns are not provided holidays even Sundays and other holidays which is critically affecting the constitutional safeguards including the fundamental rights provided to them by the constitution which includes several articles[11] and an enemy to the body exhausting them mentally and physically. The interns in a basic sense are only working like employees but are not even paid a stipend violating the constitution[12] and some replace the permanent employees as well.
Further, it was demanded by the respondents to have a selection procedure that is ‘transparent in nature and the public can access its working to suppress the corruption taking place so that every person either from the government sector or private sector may get an equal chance of opportunity’. The section of ‘disabled person is required to get reservations and the supporting system during the times of their internship period and the education period under the internship scheme. Establishment of an authority that is equipped with a speedy ‘redressal mechanism’ by which the interns may complain if they feel like exploitation is done to them during the internship period. Placing the same time for the employees and interns to work for the organisation hence restricting the excess hours of work and no job advertisement to be made so that there are fewer chances of interns replacing the employees.[13]
CONCLUSION
The practice of internship plays a vital role in helping the intern to learn the valuables that will further help them in future but, they should be given the pay for the work they do towards the internship provider even though sometimes the learning experience to the interns would also be accepted. The students who do work as an intern cannot face exploitation continuously leading to physical and mental harm so there is a need for backing support in the form of legislation against any of the exploitation made to them. The interns have to travel to big cities for the period of internships and thus they have to manage their finances for their overall wellbeing which plays an important role in shaping one’s career. Till today we cannot see any legislation being enacted for the interns, they have to work for long hours, harassment at workplaces etc. They are expected to travel, live in accommodation and acquire food at their cost, so at least they deserve some benefit from the enactment of an act in favour of the internship students. The means of unpaid internships will ultimately be a loss towards both the interns as well as the employers which can be seen in the loss of productivity of the organisation harming the organisation itself. The means of benefits should reach the interns for their welfare and regulations should be made for the protection of interns from any kind of exploitation.
Author(s) Name: Mohammed Fardeen Yusuf (Pondicherry University, Puducherry)
References:
[1] Surat Saravanan and Suryesh K. Namdeo, ‘OVERDUE: A FORMAL INTERNSHIP POLICY IN INDIA THAT PROTECTS ITS STUDENTS’ (Science the wire, 05/11/2020)
<https://science.thewire.in/education/india-internship-policy-student-workforce-employability-exploitation-social-damage/> accessed on 7th September 2023
[2] Ibid
[3] Apprentices Act 1961
[4] The Minimum Wages Act 1948
[5] Shristhi Bose, ‘INTERNS AND LABOUR LAW’ (Lawchives, 25/12/2018) <https://thelawstudentsnetwork.wordpress.com/2018/12/25/interns-and-labour-laws/ >accessed on 8th September 2023
[6] Bar Council of India Rules, r 25
[7] Ritika Rawat, ‘PROTECTION OF LEGAL INTERNS’, (Unique Law, 24/08/2023) <https://www.uniquelaw.in/post/protection-of-legal-interns > accessed on 9th September 2023
[8] MD Imran Ahmad v. Union of India. WP(C) 1120/2021
[9] Apprentices Act 1961
[10] Kshitij Kumar Ojha, ‘Interns Plead for a Fair Deal’ Patriot (New Delhi,13th January 2023)
[11] The Constitution of India 1950, art 21 & 23
[12] The Constitution of India 1950, art 14
[13] Shruti Kakkar, ‘Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Seeking To Count Interns As Trainees & Consider Them For Stipend, Working Hours, Leave & Other Legal Protection’, (Live Law, 08/01/2022) <https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-interns-apprentices-act-trainees-internship-legal-protection-189066?infinitescroll=1 > accessed on 9th September 2023
