Scholarship
Internship Scheme Of The Ministry Of Labour & Employment(ISMOLE)
Overview
About ISMOLE
The Ministry of Labour and Employment now pays its interns Rs 18,000 or Rs 20,000 a month, depending on whether you are an undergraduate or a postgraduate (Guidelines for Internship Programme, dated 25 March 2026). Those figures are new. They replace the order that scheme directories still quote, and the money is not the only thing that moved: the batch got bigger, the term got shorter, and there is now an age ceiling.
The programme is small by design. The 2026 guidelines cap it at 10 interns per batch, placed across various wings of the ministry, with the intake run in two cycles during each financial year (Guidelines for Internship Programme). They are issued from Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi, and name no other place of posting.
The work is written work. Interns may be put on legal and policy research on the Labour Codes and the rules under them, analysis of industrial disputes, case law trends and legislative precedents, drafting of policy notes, briefs and internal memoranda, data compilation and comparative studies on labour reforms, and documentation of practice in social security and labour welfare. Each intern works under a supervising officer and submits a final report or paper at the end.
The order this replaced, dated 2 June 2017, set out a thinner version of the same idea: a stipend of Rs 8,000 a month, a ceiling of five interns at any point of time, and a term of two to six months (Internship Scheme of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, 2017). Public scheme directories are still built on that record, so you will meet both sets of numbers while reading about this internship.
Neither document treats a term here as a way into the ministry. The 2017 order said the internship is neither a job nor an assurance of one, and the 2026 guidelines say it shall not be construed as an offer of employment or a claim to any future appointment.
Who runs it
Provider
Ministry Of Labour and Employment
Central Government
Central Sector Scheme
At a glance
Key details
| Level | Central |
| Scheme type | Central Sector Scheme |
| Category | Education & Learning |
| Beneficiaries | Individual |
| Benefit type | Composite |
| Application mode | Online |
| Direct Benefit Transfer | Not published by the source |
| Tags | Student, Internship, Labour, Law, Research |
| Source record | myScheme, 2026-07-08official-site· 2026-07-08 |
Calendar
Important dates
The 2026 guidelines leave their own calendar blank. They commit to two cycles during each financial year and then stop: the sentence that would name the cycles ends at a colon with nothing printed after it. What they do fix is the lead time: applications open two months prior to each batch, so a cycle is visible before it starts.
The 2017 order was specific where the new one is not, inviting applications in the month of January and in the month of July. Until the ministry notifies the 2026 cycles, those are the only months on record, and they are the ones to watch labour.gov.in against.
Who can apply
Eligibility criteria
Two routes in. Either you are studying LL.B., B.A. LL.B. or LL.M., or you are on a postgraduate degree in Industrial Relations, Labour Laws, Social Work, Statistics, Mass Media, Economics, Public Policy, Information Technology or a related discipline from a recognised university or institution in India. On top of that sits a hard filter the older order did not have: candidates should not be more than 30 years of age.
Statistics, Mass Media, Economics, Public Policy and Information Technology are additions. The 2017 list named MBA, MSW, MSc and MA alongside the law routes, so a public policy or data student who previously had to argue their subject into an MA-shaped box now has a named door.
| The applicant should be pursuing law [in the last two years of degree course] or Law Graduates or students pursuing Post Graduation in Law or Research Scholars in Law or pursuing MBA / MSW / MSc / MA enrolled in a recognized University/Institution within India or abroad. |
Who cannot apply
Exclusions
Neither document publishes a list of who is barred, and the eligibility clause is what does the excluding in practice. A candidate above 30, or on a course outside the named law and postgraduate disciplines, has no band to be graded in and no route to a score. Separately, the ministry keeps the right to review or terminate an internship at any stage for unsatisfactory performance, misconduct or violation of rules.
Continuation
Renewal conditions
What the 2026 guidelines create is an extension, not a renewal. The internship runs two to three months counted from the day it starts, and it may be extended up to four months depending on project needs and intern performance, which leaves the call with the ministry rather than with a form you file. A second term is not provided for in either document.
What you get
Award & benefits
The stipend is the part that changed most, and it is conditional on your conduct rather than automatic.
| Intern | Stipend a month | Paid subject to |
|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate | Rs 18,000 | satisfactory performance and attendance |
| Postgraduate | Rs 20,000 | satisfactory performance and attendance |
Against that, the ministry pays for nothing else. Accommodation, travel and food are stated as the intern's own expense, and interns are expected to make their own arrangements for stay and logistics. Anyone travelling to Delhi for this should work that number out first, because it comes off the stipend.
Inside the office you get workspace, internet access and stationery on the ministry's premises, and a Mentor Officer designated to guide the work and evaluate progress. The Certificate of Completion is issued on successful completion of the internship and submission of the final report, which makes the paper the thing that unlocks the certificate rather than an optional extra.
- The Interns will be paid a stipend @ ₹ 8,000/- per month for the period of internship on certification from the Officer, which the Intern is attached to.
- Ministry of Labour & Employment shall provide them with working space and computer with internet facility and other necessities as deemed fit by the concerned Heads.
- Certificate of Internship
- Certificates will be issued to the interns on satisfactory completion of their internship and on submission of their Report/Paper and its evaluation by the concerned.
What to prepare
Documents required
The 2026 application is three uploads: a curriculum vitae, a statement of purpose of at most 500 words, and a recommendation letter from your head of department or faculty advisor. The statement of purpose is not a formality, because its quality is one of the three things selection is decided on.
The older order asked for different paper at different stages, and that is the set most directories list: a self-attested marksheet or certificate when you accept the offer, and a letter from the supervisor, head of department or principal stating your status in the institution and giving a no objection at the time of joining.
Step by step
How to apply
Applications are submitted online only, at a link to be indicated on labour.gov.in or as notified separately, and the window opens two months before each batch. That is the whole published mechanism. The guidelines describe no standing portal you can register on out of season, and no offline route.
What Happens After You Send the Form
Neither document publishes a way to find out where your file has reached. The 2026 guidelines stop at the upload list, and the 2017 order says only that offers will be sent to selected interns, subject to availability of slots, the consent of the concerned division and the Selection Committee's approval, which means silence and rejection look identical from outside. That leaves one route for a candidate who hears nothing: the section that owns the file. Administration Division-I of the ministry is reachable on the landline printed under the 2026 guidelines, 011-23718922, and a written query to the same section is worth more than resubmitting the form (Guidelines for Internship Programme).
How winners are picked
Selection process
A Selection Committee constituted by the ministry evaluates the applications on academic performance, relevance of study and the quality of the statement of purpose. Behind that sentence sits a published scoring table, and it is the most useful thing in the document, because it tells you what your file is actually worth before you write a word of the statement.
| What is graded | Band | Weightage |
|---|---|---|
| Educational qualification | Research scholar, or a postgraduate degree in the disciplines the table names | 50 |
| Educational qualification | 2nd year of a 3 year LLB, or 4th year of a 5 year LLB | 40 |
| Educational qualification | Graduation completed plus LLB 1st year, or 3rd year of a 5 year LLB | 30 |
| Marks in the last year or 2 semesters | Above 80% or the corresponding grade | 50 |
| Marks in the last year or 2 semesters | 70% to 80% or the corresponding grade | 40 |
| Marks in the last year or 2 semesters | Below 70% or the corresponding grade | 30 |
Read the two halves together and the ranking is blunt. Qualification and marks carry the same maximum, so a transcript above 80% counts for as much as being a research scholar, and a mid-degree law student with strong marks is not out of the running against a postgraduate with weak ones.
One thing in the table does not match the eligibility clause printed earlier in the same document. That clause names Information Technology among the postgraduate disciplines; the table's top band lists the others and leaves Information Technology out, saying only "or related disciplines". A postgraduate from that stream is eligible to apply and has to be graded under the catch-all.
The 2017 order named the committee: Additional Secretary (Labour and Employment) as its head, with the Joint Secretary (Administration) and two officers at director or deputy secretary level, one from Finance and one from Labour Reforms. The 2026 guidelines drop the composition and say only that the ministry constitutes it.
Fine print
Terms & conditions
Four conditions are printed, and two of them are about what you may not do with the work. Selected interns must sign a Confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreement before joining. All research, drafts or outputs prepared by interns remain the property of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, so the paper you write is not yours to publish at will afterwards.
The third condition is the termination right described above. The fourth states that the internship is purely temporary and non-remunerative beyond the stipend, and shall not be construed as an offer of employment or a claim for any future appointment in the ministry. The guidelines were issued with the approval of the Secretary (Labour and Employment).
Get help
Contact
Administration Division-I of the Ministry of Labour and Employment owns this file, at Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi. The 2026 guidelines print a landline for the Under Secretary who issued them, 011-23718922, and no email address (Guidelines for Internship Programme). The 2017 order carried an email for the same section, adm1@gov.in, while the scheme's public record answers the same question with adm1@nic.in. The 2026 guidelines reprint neither, so a written query is worth sending to both.
Source
Official links
Questions
ISMOLE – FAQ
Frequently asked questions
From the official scheme FAQ (myScheme)
Read this
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
Scheme details are compiled from myScheme, the Government of India’s official scheme-discovery platform, and are reproduced without alteration. Amounts, deadlines and eligibility change between cycles, so always confirm on the official links above before applying. Expertie does not process applications or charge fees.
References
Sources
- Guidelines for Internship Programme, dated 25 March 2026 – labour.gov.in
- PIB, Prime Minister's Internship Scheme Pilot Project – pib.gov.in
- myScheme (Government of India) – myscheme.gov.in