Internship Experience @ People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Jaipur: It was a work cum fun trip

Your Name, College, Year of Study, Email ID

Anonymous

Name of Organisation, Location city, Team Strength

People’s Union for Civil Liberties, Jaipur

Application Process with contact details

One needs to send an email to pucl.rajasthan@gmail.com and cc it to kavisriv@gmail.com at least 2-3 months before the required period along with the exact dates.

The mention of dates is extremely important. The minimum duration of internship is 28 days, i.e. 4 weeks.

Duration of internship and timings

June – July, 2016.

First impression, first day formalities, infrastructure

One needs to reach office by 10 am. The formalities include writing up an application requesting to intern at PUCL, Jaipur and confirmation of contact details.

Earlier the office was located in Barkat nagar. The new address of PUCL, Jaipur is-Mr. HM Khan, 48 Van Vihar Colony, opposite Nirala Rajasthan, Jaipur.

The postal address for the same is- 76, Shanti Niketan, Kisan Marg, Jaipur-302015.

Main tasks

My internship experience comprised of 3 main tasks-

1. Writing case studies: problems of the people who were participating in the 22 day dharna demanding the implementation of accountability law. Various issues ranging from health, education to women harassment were covered up.

2. Conducting surveys: The work comprised of conducting surveys in the local areas of the city relating to safety, menstrual hygiene awareness, distributing pamphlets, education, etc.

3. Court visits: One gets to visit the District, High and family court for sure during their internship at PUCL.

4. The visit to Mahila Suraksha Salah Kendra is a great experience.

5. Field trips

Work environment and people

The work environment is highly professional One cannot take the internship as a joke.

I got the chance to meet eminent personalities like Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey only because of PUCL. It was great experience to get have an interaction with them.

Students from various law colleges intern at PUCL which makes it a great place to discuss socio-legal issues and to form networks.

PS: You might end up making friends which will be with you for lifetime.

Best things

The best part of the entire internship was field trip. We were sent on drought duty in the interior of rural Rajasthan which turned out to be a great learning experience.

We used to walk up to 6 – 8 kms a day, talking to people, understanding their problems, preparing reports. It was a work cum fun trip.

Bad things

1. The surveys weren’t a part of PUCL’s work. They were done on the behalf of other non-governmental organizations.

2. The timings were so strict that sometimes we weren’t allowed to have 5 minute break even if one was feeling dehydrated. I felt some leniency should have been there over such serious matters.

3. No experience about the administrative work of PUCL, Jaipur.

Stipend

No stipend

Biggest Lessons

The 22 day dharna taught me patience. It also changed my perspective at looking things. I could feel that how lucky I was to be able to live a lifestyle which the people sitting there only dreamed of and it was so foolish of me to take it as granted.

The reality is far worse than what we see in TV’s and read in newspapers.

Accommodation

Although I was staying with my relatives, ample hostels were available in the vicinity of the office. One can easily get an accommodation and need not worry about it.

Office Timings

There were no official timings as such. Everyday, there was a different activity at a different place. One was generally asked to report by 9:30 am and got free by 7:30 pm.