Human Rights Internships for Law Students in India

The best-documented human rights internship open to law students in India is run by the National Human Rights Commission, and its eligibility and pay are published on its website. Beyond that, NGOs and legal aid bodies take interns but on different terms, and you must check each one directly because openings change often.

The NHRC internship programmes

According to the NHRC’s internship page, there are two main programmes.

In-person summer and winter internship

• Duration: four weeks, in June to July or December to January.
• Stipend: Rs 12,000, plus travel allowance for a third AC train fare from your institute to Delhi and back.
• Who can apply: LL.B. students in the 2nd or 3rd year, integrated five year students in the 4th or 5th year, LL.M. students, and students of human rights or social science postgraduate courses, with preference to final year students.
• Conditions: at least 60 percent in Class XII and in the first six semesters, age not above 28, a regular course at a UGC-recognised university, and no earlier attendance at an NHRC internship.
• Application: online, with a Statement of Purpose of 300 to 500 words titled “Reason for Joining as Intern in NHRC”.

Online short term internship

• Duration: two weeks. The page lists a session from 16 to 27 November 2026.
• Stipend: Rs 2,000.
• Who can apply: students from the third year of an integrated course, third or final year graduation students, and students in any semester of a postgraduate degree or diploma including the three year LL.B., as well as research scholars.
• Application: through the Commission’s HRCNet portal, with a 250 word Statement of Purpose.

For both, selection is by marks in Class XII (30), graduation marks (40) and the Statement of Purpose (30), with preference to candidates with research potential in human rights. Each programme takes about 100 interns. The page gives a contact email, cr.nhrc@nic.in, for queries. Dates and rules can change, so read the page on the day you apply.

Writing the Statement of Purpose

With a third of the marks resting on it, this is the part you control. Keep it concrete.

1. Name one human rights issue you have actually engaged with: custodial deaths, prison conditions, manual scavenging, the rights of persons with disabilities, the right to health.
2. Say what you did about it: a moot, a paper, a legal aid camp, a project with an NGO, a reading of a specific judgment.
3. Explain what you want to learn from the Commission’s work, in terms specific to its functions, such as handling complaints, spot enquiries or research.
4. Stay within the word limit and do not repeat your CV.

NGOs and legal organisations

Many organisations take interns in human rights law, including legal aid and litigation groups. The names that come up most often among students are the Human Rights Law Network and the Lawyers Collective, among others. Practices differ, and the availability, terms and pay change, so we do not state any as current. Visit the organisation’s own website and look for an internship or volunteer page. Several advertise openings in a few weeks’ window and reply only to complete applications.

When you contact an NGO, expect a different workplace from a firm. You may be doing field visits, fact finding, drafting petitions, working with survivors or documenting cases. The work can be emotionally heavy. Ask honestly whether you are prepared for it, and ask the organisation whether they provide supervision and support.

District legal services authorities

Legal services authorities at the district and state level provide free legal aid under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987. Many accept law students as paralegal volunteers or interns, and the work, such as legal aid clinics, jail visits and awareness camps, is directly connected to access to justice. Check with your district legal services authority, or see our guide to internships with NALSA and DLSAs.

Making an application stand out

• Send a short cover email, not a form letter. Name the specific project or area you want to work on.
• Attach one writing sample: a case comment or short note on a human rights judgment.
• Say when you are available and for how many weeks.
• Mention any language skills. Hindi, Urdu or a regional language can matter a great deal for fieldwork.

What to expect and what to avoid

Most NGO internships are unpaid or offer a small allowance. A few ask for a minimum commitment of several weeks. Avoid any organisation that asks you to pay a fee to intern, or that cannot tell you who will supervise you. If you want a short, structured way to build writing credentials first, Lexfolio’s virtual internship lets you publish legal explainers under your own name.

What we could not verify

We could not confirm current openings, fees or eligibility for individual NGOs, so we have not stated them. Treat any list you find online, including this one, as a starting point and confirm on the organisation’s own page.