OREANDA-NEWS. July 20, 2012. Tata group has commenced the 5th edition of the Tata International Social Entrepreneurship Scheme (Tata ISES). Started in 2008, Tata ISES is hosting a contingent of 18 international students this year, six from the University of California, Berkley, USA; eight from the London School of Economics & Political Science, UK; and four from the University of Cambridge, UK. A distinctive corporate sustainability internship programme, Tata ISES offers an experiential internship to foreign students in the ongoing corporate sustainability (CS) projects of Tata companies in India.

Tata ISES 2012 is offering internships across Tata Chemicals, Tata Motors, Tata Teleservices, Tata Steel, Tata Coffee, Titan, Tata Capital, Indian Hotels, Tata Power, Tata Medical Center and Tata Quality Management Services, promising holistic experience in the area of community development and social entrepreneurship in India. The 18 students, representing the three campuses, will be working hands-on on the community initiatives of the group companies and entities for a period of two months.

The CS projects range from impact assessment of ongoing initiatives to affirmative action analysis, water management, health education, livelihoods and evaluation of climate change programme.

The visiting interns, selected by their educational institutions along with Tata group representatives, are standout scholars and come from diverse academic backgrounds, such as psychology, history, engineering, public administration and economics. The first phase of the internship programme kicked off on June 4, 2012, with the students from Berkeley. The second phase for the visitors from Cambridge and the London School of Economics commenced on July 2, 2012.

Says Puneeta Kala, programme director, Centre for South Asia Studies, UCB, "The Tata ISES programme is tremendously significant and we at UC Berkeley are very proud to collaborate with the Tata group on it. The hands-on experience that our students are gaining will be invaluable when one day they will have the opportunity to drive both innovation as well as social change.”

According to Professor Jaideep Prabhu, Judge Business School, Cambridge, “As usual, Cambridge University has a strong set of interns from various parts of the university going to India to work with various Tata group companies on projects of social relevance and economic importance".

Professor Stuart Corbridge, pro director for research and external relations, London School of Economics & Political Science said, “LSE is renowned for putting the finest academic social science expertise at the service of wider society and has a well-established connection with the Tata group. LSE is therefore delighted to be partnering with Tata for the 3rd year running in this highly valuable initiative to promote social entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility in India, and we are grateful to Tata for providing this excellent opportunity to some of our best students."

Atul Agrawal, vice president, corporate affairs, Tata Services, opines, “The Tata group has a heritage of giving back to the communities in which it operates. Through Tata ISES, we are delighted to offer an opportunity to some of the brightest young minds from international universities to engage with our CS initiatives; as well as, receive perspectives from them.”