The Urban Learning Internship Program

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched ‘The Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP)’, intending to match opportunities in smart cities and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) with the learning needs of fresh graduates. It is an internship program for students with ULBs and smart cities.

TULIP internship is mutually beneficial to students and local governments. It helps students gain exposure to the functioning of cities. It benefits local governments as a pool of talent is created for absorption in the market, and new solutions evolve for the city.

The program will provide practical experience to students and help infuse fresh innovations and ideas into the working of ULBs and smart cities. It intends to fulfil the twin goals of providing a learning experience to new graduates and benefiting states, smart cities and ULBs with the infusion of fresh ideas and energy to solve critical challenges.

Objectives of TULIP

The objectives of TULIP are as follows:

• To provide short-term exposure to new graduates to enhance their professional development through experiential learning with smart cities and ULBs.
• To harness fresh ideas and energy towards endeavours of smart cities and ULBs to solve critical challenges.
• To connect fresh graduates with urban governments.
• To provide government and industry with a pool of well-trained professionals.
• To make young graduates market-ready.
• To expose new graduates to real-life learning in urban environments.

Eligibility for TULIP

The applicants should fulfil all the below conditions to be eligible for applying to TULIP:

• Should be an Indian citizen.
• Any graduate, post-graduate, diploma, PG diploma, or advanced diploma student.
• Should apply for TULIP within 18 months from the final year result declaration date.

The internship duration will be a minimum of eight weeks to one year.

TULIP Application Procedure

The details of the internships under TULIP are available on the TULIP portal. The eligible applicants should apply for TULIP internships through the official TULIP portal. The application process is as follows:

• Visit the official The Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP) portal.
• Click on the ‘Register’ option available on the top right-hand of the homepage.
• A new tab will open. Click on the ‘Student’ option and select either the ‘AICTE Affiliated Organisation (Diploma/Engineering/MBA)’ or ‘Non-AICTE (UGC/ IGNOU / Other)’ option.
• Enter the details such as university/institution/college name, type, state, and city and tick the confirmation box that the details provided are correct. 
• Next, enter the name, contact number, student ID, email, Aadhaar number and password.
• Select the security question and enter the security answer, select the gender, category, last passed course and enter the percentage. Click on the ‘Register’ button.
• After registration, visit the TULIP portal homepage and click on the ‘Login’ button.
• Select the ‘Student’ option, enter the ‘Email’, ‘Password’ and click on the ‘Login’ option.
• After logging into the portal, the students can apply for the TULIP internships.
• The selected interns will get an internship certificate upon completing the internship period (not less than eight weeks).
• A digitally signed certificate regarding completing the internship under TULIP will be issued jointly by the MoHUA, AICTE, state government, and the smart city/ULB. 

Documents Required for TULIP

• A recommendation from the competent authority of the academic institution where the applicant has pursued her/his studies.
• Applicants may be asked to submit a synopsis on urban issues (not more than 1,000 words) along with the application. The synopsis should broadly include a brief about the applicant’s proposed area of work, areas of interest and objectives for undertaking the internship.
• An identity proof, such as a driving licence, voter ID card, Aadhaar card, etc.
• Proofs of academic qualifications.

Stipend Under TULIP

The stipend amount for the internship would be payable at the discretion of the smart city or ULB. There is no liability on the ULB or smart city to provide employment upon completing the internship.

Implementation of TULIP

The TULIP is implemented through a partnership between the MoHUA and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). At the State level, the urban development department will support the TULIP by providing a clear roadmap for the smart cities or ULBs to adopt TULIP in their respective organisations. The ULB or smart city has the flexibility to define the numbers, roles, and other parameters of TULIP that can best serve their contextual needs. 

The role of different stakeholders in implementing TULIP are as follows:

• MoHUA – Provides guidelines and is responsible for overall program management and capacity building.
• States/UTs – Responsible for effective implementation and handhold.
• AICTE – Takes care of platform management and end-to-end digital handholding.
• ULBs/smart cities – Implements the program to serve local needs.
• Graduates – Get exposure to learning by doing and experiential learning in a complex urban environment.

Benefits of TULIP

The benefits of TULIP for different stakeholders are as follows:

• MoHUA: The program creates an ecosystem where youth can contribute to building a livable city. It helps to strengthen the institutional capacity of urban ecosystems and youth engagement towards urban initiatives.
• ULBs and smart cities: The program provides a high-quality and skilled workforce to ULBs and smart cities. It also helps them address critical challenges through innovative citizen-centric solutions and rejuvenate the ULBs/smart cities.
• Participating graduates: They get employability through learning by doing and get the opportunity to co-create innovation for cities. They get exposure in a large area, including urban planning, different branches of engineering, urban design, information and technology, finance, mobility, environmental issues and social sector issues.