Twitter User Complained about Low Stipend for Interns, Netizens are Surprised with 'Paid Internship'

When college students think of an internship, they imagine that it will give them an opportunity to learn new things and to make some pocket money on the side. However, in the real world, people often have bad experiences as interns. The work is usually unpaid and all they ‘earn’ is experience. If they are paid, the amount is negligible compared to the work they are asked to do. Interns are often exploited while they try to gain experience as they are offered unpaid work.

The problem was highlighted on Twitter by a user named Astha Upadhyaya. She shared a screenshot from an internship announcement where as an outcome of the internship, Rs 1500 monthly stipend would be given to interns along with a reference letter. Astha highlighted the portion about stipend.

The responses to Astha’s tweets highlight that the problem of unpaid and poorly paid internships is prevalent.

Many users were surprised that there are places which give stipends to interns. A user said that interns are made to work for free in the name of experience.

A user named Ishan Garg commented that for a three-month-long internship where he was working six days a week and 8 hours everyday, he received Rs 3500 per month. Ishan said that people don’t value time in India.

Srijan Pathak, another user said that it [the stipend of Rs 1500 per month] does not come as a surprise given the fact that people are working as unpaid interns in India.

Commenting on the practice of unpaid internship, a user said that there should be laws against this.

A user suggested Astha to ask how work is going for any of her friends who are pursuing Chartered Accountancy.

In the country, CA aspirants have to pursue articleship in a chartered accountancy firm. The articleship has to be done for a period of three years. Mostly, CA aspirants get a minimal amount during their articleship period. Although the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has put norms for the stipend that articles are supposed to get, in many smaller firms, they are often paid nothing during the articleship.

A user named Sabika also shared a story from the world of media. She shared her experience as a response to Astha’s tweet that a media house took freshers in for Rs 4,000 per month but the demand was to do eight stories every month.

Another Twitter user responded with the famous meme of Amitabh Bachchan asking, “Kya karenge aap itni dhanrashi ka? [What would you do with this amount of money].”

Did you ever get an internship that paid (even peanuts)?