Shri Pradhan, while speaking at the occasion, said that the internship presents a unique opportunity to postgraduate students of social sciences and will strengthen social science research, which is pivotal to achieving social progress, embracing technological disruptions and driving economic growth and aligned to the national objective of Viksit Bharat. He further said that the nature of jobs is changing rapidly with technologies like AI driving this change, and research in the area of social sciences will play a pivotal role in ensuring that technological disruptions aid social development.

Shri Pradhan also said that the National Education Policy 2020 has recognized the need for quality social science research, which plays a pivotal role in shaping societies. ICSSR internship program is yet another step towards fostering individual growth and creating a pool of skilled researchers who can contribute to areas like policy research, data analysis, and social innovation, he said.

The Minister said that India is a living ancient civilization, which has embraced modernity while retaining its basic character. He added that robust social science research plays an important role in ensuring civilizational sustenance and growth and expressed confidence that this initiative will strengthen the civilizational ethos of Bharatiya and pave the way for the future.

With the introduction of the NEP 2020, there is an increased focus on internships which is being used to award credits to students pursuing undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) programmes through the National Credit Framework (NCrF). ICSSR internship program is yet another step towards fostering individual growth and creating a pool of skilled researchers who can contribute to areas like policy research, data analysis, and social innovation.

The Internship Programme at ICSSR has been designed with a fundamental objective to match education with research skills to prepare young social scientists and a humanist for the changing dynamics of employability and ensure their meaningful contribution towards national development. The uniqueness of the Internship Programme is the integration of modern education and skills with traditional knowledge and techniques.

Taking inspiration from the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi that Anusandhan is a critical component of Bharat’s development and that “skill development and employment are essential needs in India,” ICSSR has embarked on this mission to provide essential skills to the youth for conducting quality research in Social and Human Sciences. This internship focuses on bridging the gap between academic knowledge and employability skills. It aims to foster research skills, including ideation, data collection, experimentation, and report presentation. Interns shall gain hands-on experience in research tools, methodologies, and real-world applications by working with experienced and successful mentors from universities, research think tanks, industry, and the community. The program aims to be multidisciplinary, with the selected candidates representing different domains of social and human sciences such as Statistics, Population Studies, Sociology, Applied Psychology, Public Health and Policy, International Relations, Development Studies, Language Studies, Anthropology, etc.

The advertisement for the Research Internship Programme received a very positive response with more than 3600 applications. After following a rigorous selection process and ensuring inclusivity, ICSSR has selected 40 candidates from different parts of the nation to be appointed as interns. The Internship Programme would involve national and international workshops on skills required for research studies on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN firmly reiterated and newly contextualised by Bharat in the highly successful G-20 presidency declaration.