By Ankita Nawalakha:
Are you the kind of person who has always wanted to do ‘something’ – something for the society, something for the nation? Have you always wanted to be an active change maker? Do you love working in challenging situations? Always wanted to work on the ground, but don’t know how or with which organization? Here’s an answer to your questions. The following article lists some of the best and the most rigorous fellowship programmes available for the youth, in India.
1) Teach for India Fellowship
Teach For India is a part of ‘Teach for All’ global network. The Teach For India Fellowship program is a 2 year full-time paid commitment in which the most promising graduates and professionals are placed as full time teachers in under resourced and low income schools. The Fellowship program is rigorous, challenging and provides Fellows an opportunity to develop themselves as leaders and simultaneously transform the lives of the children under their care. Students and professionals with a bachelor’s degree at the time of joining the Fellowship are eligible to apply. (For more information, visit here)
2) Young India Fellowship
The Young India fellowship (YIF) is a one-year multidisciplinary post-graduate program which brings together 100 young girls and boys from around the country and launches them on their leadership journey by opening their mind to a rich and diverse set of subjects and perspectives, delivered by some of the finest teachers from around the world. (For more information visit here)
3) Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament (LAMP) Fellowship
The LAMP fellowship provides bright young Indian citizens to have a high-impact engagement with the policy making process at a national level by placing one legislative assistant to work with one Member of Parliament. The LAMP Fellows are engaged full-time for eleven months to work with the assigned MP from the beginning of the monsoon session to the end of the budget session of Parliament. Throughout the eleven months, the LAMP Fellow works closely with the MP, providing extensive research support for his/her parliamentary work. (For details, visit here)
4) William J Clinton Fellowship
The Fellowship pairs a select number of highly skilled young professionals with leading NGOs and social enterprises in India in order to accelerate impact and create effective projects that are replicable, scalable, and sustainable. Through ten months of service and fieldwork, Fellows gain knowledge of development on the ground in the fields of education, livelihoods, public health, and social enterprise, honing and harnessing their growing skills as change agents capable of effecting lasting change. Together, fellows and development sector leaders form dynamic partnerships, to exchange knowledge and skills while sharing their passion and commitment to open new ways of looking at the world — ultimately transforming both the individual and organization. (For more information visit here)
5) Gandhi Fellowship
The Fellowship is an intensive 2-year rural residential program that helps talented young people develop the leadership skills necessary for positive change in society. The Fellowship challenges these young people to support primary school headmasters to transform their schools. In the process, Fellows discover what they want to do with their own lives and how to go about converting their ideas into reality. During the 2 years of the Fellowship, the fellows will be assigned 5 schools each. The fellows have to bring about a significant transformation in these schools. (For more information visit here)
6) Prime Minister’s Rural Fellowship
PMRD Fellowship is an initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) where the focus is to reduce poverty and improve the lives of people in rural India. During the two-year duration of the Fellowship, PMRD Fellows will work closely with District Magistrates of backward and remote districts in improving programme delivery and interface with marginalized sections, aiming to reduce the developmental and governance deficits. Fellows will also participate in a post graduate degree programme through e-enabled distance learning and contact sessions leading to M.Sc/M.Phil in Development Practice, to be conducted by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS). Immediately after successful completion of the two year fellowship, a PMRD Fellow is required to spend one year in public service as a paid full-time employee of the State Rural Livelihood Mission in the state she/he is assigned to. (For more information, visit here)
7) Azim Premji Foundation Fellowship Program
The Fellowship is an opportunity for you to explore various dimensions of education, and to discover if this is your calling. It is a 2-year full-time program, where a fellow will get to understand and experience the realities of rural Government schools. The fellowship involves:
a) 5 weeks classroom module to strengthen conceptual understanding of education and development issues
b) 22 months of intense field engagement at the grass roots level in the district institutes of the foundation.
c) Working on a live project that has significant purpose of improving quality at practice level.
(For more information visit here)