Student Internship Programme (Banglar Uchchashiksha)

What is the Student Internship Programme?

Student Internship Programme is the paid internship scheme of the Higher Education Department, Government of West Bengal. The scheme was cleared by the state cabinet on 31 January 2022, and its purpose is straightforward: give young people who have just finished a degree or an equivalent technical qualification a year of real, paid work inside a government office, so that they leave with administrative experience and a documented work record instead of a blank first year after graduation.

Student Internship Programme is announced and administered through the Banglar Uchchashiksha portal at banglaruchchashiksha.wb.gov.in, which is the Higher Education Department's own website. The portal carries a standing notice in its scrolling banner telling students to visit regularly to know about the West Bengal Student Internship Scheme. A deliberate signal that the application window opens on announcement rather than on a fixed annual date.

As approved in 2022, the scheme covered about 6,000 internships, each of one year, with a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000. A revision of the stipend to Rs 10,000 a month has been widely reported since. Because the department has not published a consolidated scheme page setting out the current figure, this guide states both and tells you plainly which one to trust: the amount printed in the notice for the cycle you are applying to.

The scheme is sometimes referred to locally as the Banglar Uchcha Shiksha internship, after the portal on which it is published, and in Bengali usage as the chhatra internship prakalpa.

Who is eligible for the Student Internship Programme?

You can be considered if:

• You have completed graduation or an equivalent technical qualification. Reports of the 2022 cabinet decision describe the target group as graduates, and the scheme has been described as extending to students from technical streams including polytechnic and industrial training institute backgrounds.
• You meet the marks cut-off announced for the cycle. The 2022 decision was reported as setting a bar around 60 percent in the qualifying examination.
• You are within the age limit announced. An upper limit of 40 years has been reported for the scheme.
• You are a resident of West Bengal and can produce residence proof.
• You have an active bank account in your own name for the stipend transfer.

You are not eligible, and cannot apply, if:

• You have not completed the qualifying degree or equivalent course. An applicant still in the final year cannot be engaged until the result is out.
• You are outside the age band stated in the notice.
• You already hold a regular government post. The internship is for people entering the workforce, not a second engagement for a serving employee.
• You are not a West Bengal resident, since placements are in state government offices and the scheme is a state welfare measure.
• Your marks are below the cut-off for the cycle. This is a shortlisting filter, not a technicality, with roughly 6,000 seats against a very large graduate pool, the cut-off does the heavy lifting.

Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and persons with disabilities applies as per West Bengal government rules, and the relevant certificate must be uploaded at the time of application if you are claiming it.

How to apply for the Student Internship Programme

1. Watch banglaruchchashiksha.wb.gov.in. The Higher Education Department publishes the internship notice on its own portal, in the notices and publications section. There is no separate standing application window.
2. Read the notice for the cycle and confirm the four things that change between cycles: the number of internships, the stipend amount, the age limit and the marks cut-off.
3. Register on the application link given in the notice, using a mobile number and email address you actually control. The OTP and every later communication goes there.
4. Fill the application form with your personal details, qualifying examination details and marks, category, district and preferred placement location.
5. Upload the documents; degree certificate and marksheets, Madhyamik certificate as age proof, Aadhaar, residence proof, bank passbook, photograph and signature, plus a caste or disability certificate if you are claiming reservation.
6. Submit and save the application number and a PDF copy of the submitted form. Every status check and every grievance needs the application number.
7. Wait for the merit list and placement order. Shortlisting is on the marks in the qualifying examination, and selected candidates receive a placement to a specific government office.
8. Report to the office named in the placement order with the original documents for verification before the engagement begins.

How do you check your application and stipend status?

1. Return to the application link on banglaruchchashiksha.wb.gov.in and log in with the credentials used at registration.
2. Enter the application number to see the current stage: submitted, under scrutiny, shortlisted, placed or rejected.
3. Once placed, the stipend is paid by direct transfer into the bank account given in the application. Check the passbook or netbanking statement rather than expecting a separate portal payment screen.
4. If the stipend does not arrive, raise it first with the office where you are placed, since attendance and engagement records originate there.

Why applications get rejected

• Marks below the announced cut-off, the largest single filter.
• Result not yet declared at the time of application, so the qualification is incomplete on the record date.
• Age outside the band in the notice.
• Mismatch between the name on Aadhaar, the marksheet and the bank account. A spelling difference is enough to hold up the stipend even after placement.
• Bank account not in the applicant's own name, or dormant.
• Reservation claimed without a valid certificate issued by the competent West Bengal authority.
• Illegible or wrongly sized uploads — scans that cannot be read are treated as documents not submitted.

Most of these are avoidable in the half hour before you press submit. Open your own uploaded files after uploading and read them on screen.

What does an intern actually do?

Interns under the scheme are attached to state government departments and offices. The work is administrative and support work of the kind an office genuinely needs: file and record handling, data entry and verification, public dealing at counters, assistance with scheme implementation and field work where the office requires it. The value to the intern is a year of documented government office experience and a certificate at the end.

Two limits are worth stating clearly, because they are the source of most disappointment. First, the engagement is for one year and is not extendable into employment. Second, an internship confers no right to appointment, no seniority and no claim to regularisation in any department. Anyone who tells you otherwise, particularly anyone asking for money on that promise, is running a scam.

Where can you get help?

• Higher Education Department helpline: 1800-102-8014 (toll free)
• Email support: support.hed-wb@gov.in
• Portal: banglaruchchashiksha.wb.gov.in, notices, publications and the contact-us page
• Your college or institution office, which usually receives the departmental circular directly

The Student Internship Programme charges no application fee. No official will ask for money to place you, and no one can add your name to a placement list for a payment. Report any such demand on the helpline above.

A note on unpublished details

As of 2 August 2026 the Higher Education Department does not host a consolidated scheme page for the Student Internship Programme on banglaruchchashiksha.wb.gov.in; the portal carries only the standing notice directing students to check back regularly. The figures in this guide: about 6,000 internships, a one-year term, a stipend of Rs 5,000 approved in 2022 with a reported revision to Rs 10,000, a 60 percent marks bar and a 40-year upper age limit; come from reporting of the 31 January 2022 cabinet decision and later coverage, not from a departmental notification available online. Read the notice for your cycle before you rely on any of them.