In one case, a student applied for permission to do an internship at a private company. Upon verification, it turned out that the company had closed down a year ago.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO
Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has unearthed cases of students applying for internships in strange places, companies that have shut down, and in some instances, even bars and restaurants and hair clinics. Having detected these, the VTU has issued warnings to the students.
These cases have come to light during the verification of online applications submitted by students for internship.
In one case, a student applied for permission to do an internship at a private company. Upon verification, it turned out that the company had closed down a year ago.
Another student claimed to have applied for an internship at a place with a name that sounded like an engineering company, which, upon verification, turned out to be a bar and restaurant in Chennai.
In another case, a student applied under the name of a well-known skin and hair care clinic in Bengaluru. But, the student had mentioned the address of Denmark under this clinic’s name.
In yet other case, a student wanted to do internship in a travel company, which had been listed by the student has offering “IT internship for the role of Trainee Software Developer Intern (Travel-Tech Platform)”.
The VTU has warned students that they are allowed to do internships in registered and authorised companies only. It has warned that disciplinary action would be taken if such cases were repeated.
Engineering students are required to do a minimum of six-months of internship in the 7th or 8th semesters to acquire the necessary skills in the stream they are studying. The university has allocated nine credits for internship.
The VTU has an internship portal to facilitate engineering students, and they can register there with companies offering internships. Most students do internships in the companies listed on this portal. A total of 82,000 students and 14,000 thousand companies have registered on the portal this year.
On the other hand, students are also allowed to do internships in companies of their choice. These students have to upload the information of the companies they are going to do internship in the portal and get permission from the internship coordinator.
However, during the verification, it has come to light that some students tried to do internships in fake companies.
“We will approve internship applications only after strict verification. That is why we created this new portal, to ensure everything is checked systematically. It is advisable to do internships in companies registered on our portal. Disciplinary action will be taken against students who attempt to commit illegal acts,” said S. Vidyashankar, Vice-Chancellor of VTU.
Published – February 03, 2026 10:56 pm IST
