We put together a list of Fellowships and programmes from across India that might be a great starting point for your career.
1. Chief Ministers Fellowship, Tamil Nadu
The Tamil Nadu government recently announced that it will implement a Chief Minister’s Fellowship Programme for 2022-24 to utilise the talent of young professionals in the execution of schemes in 12 sectors. These are: Augmentation of water resources, infrastructure & industrial development, agricultural production, productivity and creation of marketing linkages, skill development and entrepreneurship development, housing for all, institutional credit, improving educational standards, heritage and culture, improving health indicators, ecological balance and data governance. More details here.
2. Chief Ministers Urban Leaders Programme, New Delhi
The Chief Minister’s Urban Leaders Fellowship (CMULF) programme provides a unique opportunity to young leaders across India to work within the Delhi government to address some of the most pressing urban challenges in India, and experience what ‘making change happen’ looks like. The Fellowship aims to attract outstanding young Indians from across the country under the age of 35 years who are passionate about public service and are willing to work for two years with Delhi Government. More details here.
3. Chief Ministers Good Governance Associates (CMGGA), Haryana
The CMGGA Programme is a strategic collaboration between the Government of Haryana and Ashoka University to improve governance in the state and driving a mass impact on ground. Running since 2016, the programme provides a platform to 25 young individuals each year, to work closely with the Chief Minister's Office for bringing transparency, accountability and efficiency in public service delivery in the state. More details here.
4. Chief Minister’s Good Governance Fellowships, Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister’s Good Governance (CCMGG) Fellowship Programme is an initiative by the Chhattisgarh Government that provides a unique opportunity to young leaders across India to work with the state government. If you are project management savvy with good knowledge of Hindi and English and possess IT skills, this is your chance to Experience government functioning first hand, work towards a better society by contributing to strategic initiatives of the government and get an attractive remuneration. Registrations are currently closed but find more details here.
5. Citizens for Public Leadership Fellowship (CPL)
The CPL Fellowship is a one year long, part-time Fellowship programme with a cohort of the best and brightest minds who wish to explore or build on their skills in the field of public policy. The fellows will attend a series of lectures and group-discussions. Before every lecture, fellows will be assigned a significant component of pre-work that will include readings from books, academic journals and content from documentaries and films. More details here.
6. District Development Fellowship, Punjab
The District Development Fellowship has been designed to provide a platform for young professionals to contribute to the strategic planning, training and capacity building of stakeholders, ground-level implementation of interventions while also conducting research and documentation of state initiatives in Punjab. Up to 23 outstanding young men and women with a significant record of achievement and with strong promise would be inducted as District Development Fellows. More details here.
7. LAMP Fellowship, PRS India
The Legislative Assistants to Members of Parliament (LAMP) Fellowship is a unique and an exciting opportunity for young Indians to learn law-making and public policy. LAMP Fellows are mentored by a Member of Parliament (MP) and work full-time with the assigned MP during a given year, starting from the Monsoon session of Parliament till the end of the Budget session. The primary role of a LAMP Fellow is to provide extensive research support to her/his MP for their parliamentary work. This includes drafting parliamentary questions for the MP, preparing the MP's speeches for zero hour debates, raising matters of public importance, drafting private members' bills etc. More details here.
8. The Good Politician, Indian School of Democracy (ISD)
The Good Politician is a unique 9-month experiential programme that invites 50 emerging grassroots leaders to embark on a political journey together. This experience will build political skills, a community of future politicians, and the moral courage and imagination to lead political change across India. More details here
9. She Represents, Indian School of Democracy (ISD)
She Represents is a 7-day immersive online learning experience for aspiring women political leaders. She Represents is a rigorous learning experience that nurtures the heads, hearts and hands of our future leaders. The goal of She Represents is to build concrete political skills among women who want to join politics or are already on their journey, immerse in the political reality of India, and overcome inner and systemic barriers. She Represents is currently accepting applications. More details here
10. Women in Government fellowship, Femme First Foundation
A six-month programme that is focused on capacity-building, training, and mentorship of women in politics. It seeks to enhance and improve the quality of political participation of women. The fellows will undergo residential in-person workshops, intensive virtual learning sessions, and hands-on mentorship by seasoned women politicians. This three-pronged approach will provide an academic grounding of democratic frameworks and policy-making, up-skill them with practical know-hows of electioneering, build the fellows' personal brands through personalised Public Narrative trainings by coaches from Harvard Kennedy School, and learn the ropes of politicking directly from a mentor who is undergoing the realities and tackling the challenges of being a woman in public office. More details here
11. First Step to Politics, Netri Foundation
‘First Step to Politics’ is an exclusive programme designed for women aspiring to engage in the political system and build leadership skills. The programme introduces the participants to the political domain through modules specifically designed to equip them with organisational techniques which are core to electoral politics in India. The programme is facilitated and taught by top professionals including, prominent political analysts, political leaders, communication and organisation specialists, and field experts with extensive experience in politics. More details here
12. Project Pratham Ti, Shiv Sena & Netri Foundation
This project was launched to make political space accessible to young women and empower them to participate in the Indian polity. Through ‘PROJECT- प्रथम ती’, Shiv Sena wants to reignite the conversation on political empowerment of women and translate it into action by enabling young women to understand the political structure and the nuances of the Indian political system firsthand and provide them the opportunity to engage with politicians and policymakers. More details here
Please let us know in the comments section if we have missed out any opportunities and we will add them to our list.