TULIP: The Urban Learning Internship Program – Economics

Table of Contents

Recently, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) have jointly launched an online portal called The Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP).
Aim: To provide internship opportunities to 25,000 fresh graduates in all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Smart Cities across the country.
Concept: TULIP has been conceived pursuant to the Budget 2020-21 announcement under the theme ‘Aspirational India’ which laid emphasis on changing the approach of education from ‘doing by learning,’ to ‘learning by doing’.
Area of Work: The internship opportunities will be provided for ‘Smart City’ projects which range from positions in urban planning, water supply, waste management, slum improvement and digital governance among others.
Eligibility: Applicants must be Indian citizens who have completed their final year of college within the last 18 months and have a degree of B. Tech, B planning, B. Arch, BA, BSc, BCom, LLB.
Duration: Internship durations can range from eight weeks to one year.
Benefit:
Enhance the value-to-market of India’s graduates
Create a potential talent pool in diverse fields.
Benefit ULBs and smart cities.
It will lead to infusion of fresh ideas and energy with engagement of youth in co-creation of solutions for solving India’s urban challenges.
The TULIP’s launch is also an important stepping stone for fulfillment of MHRD and AICTE’s goal of 1 crore successful internships by the year 2025.

Smart City Mission

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
To drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people
By enabling local development and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens.
Objective: To promote cities that provide core infrastructure and give a decent quality of life to its citizens, a clean and sustainable environment and application of Smart Solutions.
Coverage and Duration: The Mission covers 100 cities for the duration of five years starting from the financial year (FY) 2015-16 to 2019-20.
Financing: It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

CONCLUSION

Despite having a large number of skill development initiatives, the skill gap remains a big challenge in India.
There is a need to enhance the breadth and depth of these initiatives.
The disconnect between education and industry broadly because of the traditional approach in education is another important aspect.
Initiatives like TULIP is a welcome intervention specifically focusing on these aspects.