NHRC, India’s 4-week Winter Internship Programme – 2025 for university-level students begins in New Delhi

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India began its four-week in-person Winter Internship Programme (WIP)-2025, scheduled from 15th December 2025 to 9th January 2026, in New Delhi. A total of 80 university-level students from diverse academic backgrounds are attending the programme. They were shortlisted from 1,485 applicants representing various institutions across 19 States and Union Territories of the country.

Inaugurating it, NHRC, India Chairperson, Justice V. Ramasubramanian said that the internship is one-of-a-kind in-person platform for peer learning in a nation as diverse as India. He said that it aims to provide meaningful insights into the human rights discourse and urged the interns to internalise these values in their daily lives at home, in the workplace and within the community, so that they may contribute effectively to nation building.

In his keynote address, NHRC, India Secretary General, Shri Bharat Lal emphasised the critical role of youth in advancing the cause of human rights. He urged the interns to cultivate a deep sense of empathy and compassion, rooted in the values enshrined in the Constitution of India and the country’s civilisational ethos. He urged them to utilise the internship to broaden their perspectives and work towards building an inclusive, equitable and just society.

Earlier, giving an overview of the internship programme, NHRC, India Joint Secretary, Smt Saidingpuii Chhakhchhuak said that besides interactive sessions with subject experts, the interns will have group research projects, book reviews and declamation contests aimed at enhancing the interns’ understanding of human rights issues and fostering innovative approaches to address them.

NHRC, India Director, Lt. Col. Virender Singh delivered the vote of thanks.