About 2,000 fresh graduates will be inducted as internees in various departments of Sindh government under Federal government's National Internship Programme (NIP), sources said here on Thursday.
The lists of new internees will be issued after assessing qualifications of the internees and requirements of the various departments, sources in the provincial Works and Services Department said. It may be pointed out that about 1,600 internees are already working in various provincial departments.
The main objective of the NIP, launched in February by President Pervez Musharraf in all the four provinces of the country, is to enhance skills of fresh graduates.
Under the programme, each internee will be paid Rs 10,000 per month for one year and after the completion of his internship, a certificate will be awarded by the Federal government. According to officials sources, the one-year internship could be further extended, but it all depended on the need of the government and number of posts lying vacant.
However, the internees, already working, complained about their placement in the departments irrespective of their qualification. Female internees said that they were being assigned fields jobs and had to deal with the public.
A female internee said that officers at the level of secretaries and additional secretaries were very co-operative, but the attitude of the officials at the lower level was disappointing.
However, the internees described the introduction of NIP as encouraging as it saved a lot of time of the fresh graduates who ran from pillar to post in search of jobs. However, they said the NIP office should guide the provincial government in selection of jobs to the internees. They said there were examples when an internee was offered a job, which did not suit his qualification.
They stressed upon the NIP officials to chalk out a comprehensive strategy, aimed at helping an internee to get a job according to his qualification and skills. They mentioned that most of the internees were working on data entry, while a number of female internees have also been appointed as secretaries to senior officials. "If we are assigned professional work, it would help polish our skills," they said. From among the majority of internees, about 300 have been appointed as lecturers in colleges.
When asked about how long would it take to appoint 2000 new internees, the Works and Services officials said that the appointment process would be completed soon. They urged the NIP officials to recommend the departments where internees according to their qualifications could by accommodated.