Internship Experience @ Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC), Chandigarh: Read around 20-50 cases per day

Name

Anonymous

Name of Organisation, Location, Team Strength

Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC), Chandigarh

Application Process

Anyone can easily apply for internship by contacting them directly through e-mail or directly approaching them at their office.

E-mail: pshrc.chd@gmail.com

Duration of internship and timings

It is a full 1 month internship and weekends are off.

Normal timings from 9:30 am – 5:00 pm

First impression, first day formalities, infrastructure

Well, when the introduction began it all seemed to be very serious kind of work going through the commission as the system manager there acquainted us with the various achievements of the commission.

But as we came to learn more about the work done there, we got to know the procedures and working of the commission and at the end the bitter truth was that commission cannot take any legal decisions on its own and cannot enforce them as its just a recommendatory body and not a judicial one.

Main tasks

Our tasks were different everyday. In the initial days we were only given sample papers to work on.

We were divided into groups and we had to read around 20-50 cases per day and give cognizance to the one’s which could be accepted by the commission.

We worked in groups and it was boring a bit but the cases were really very funny.

One difficulty was that the cases were written in Punjabi and it was very hard to understand them! But the staff did help us with the cases.

We also had to read newspapers and we learnt how the commission gives suo motto cognizance to some cases.

They make you understand the whole process that how a work is done there and then they will make you learn and grasp things easily and you shall get to meet a lot of people who have already excelled in their field coming in PSHRC and I got to witness how they discuss and teach.

Work Environment, People

The work environment was amazing. We didn’t have any rules. It was a cool atmosphere full of fun.

While working we could chat with the other interns and crack jokes.

We could sit and work the way we wanted. Eating was not allowed inside the conference room, but we still manged to eat! We had to bring our own food and water. Nothing was provided by the commission.

The people of the commission were very hard working. Almost everyone was working all the time and were very busy.

The commission had different floors for different work and the people were actually concerned about human rights!

Best things

The best thing was the work atmosphere. We worked in an informal attitude and no one checked that.

We could wear anything we wanted.

Bad things

Did not find anything bad about the internship.

Stipend

None

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This entry has been submitted for the LexisNexis-Lawctopus Internship Experience Writing Competition 2015-2016. iPleaders is the learning partner for this competition.