AIESEC Chandigarh has a stated aim of becoming the best LC in the world. Because of the way this is measured, they are looking to bring as many interns to their LC as possible, and have brought about 350 interns last year. It seems to us, however, that the excessive focus on bringing in more interns has led them to lose focus on the quality of the interns’ stay.
Our main problem was the housing situation. While we expected India to be a challenging place to live and work in, we never expected to be mistreated in the way we have experienced here. In the end, some of us found the situation unbearable and we felt forced to start looking for another place to stay. Others, who are staying for shorter periods of time, do not have that option, and have to put up with AIESEC Chandigarh's management. These are the main complaints we have about our housing situation so far:
- During the summer houses had been overcrowded(May-November= This is specifically true for one of the houses, where one floor housed 9 interns in two bedrooms and a living room.
- Basic amenities are missing. There is no possibility for hot water, there is no washing machine and we lack closet space and other basic furniture. Previously, up to 18 people were sharing a single WI-FI network. Few times we were without any internet connection for many weeks, even though we paid for it. During the same period, we were also lacking gas in the kitchen, which made cooking at home impossible.
- We are being overcharged. Every person has been paying Rs. 3,000 for one month(plus internet and electricity), which for the previous months has added up to more than the rent AIESEC Chandigarh is paying to the landlord. While they assure us that this money is being spent for investing in housing or to cover for periods when they have fewer interns, we have still not seen any documentation of this fact, even though we have asked for it on several occasions. During our search for another place to stay we have discovered that the price the landlord is demanding for our unfurnished apartment is the same as many others are asking for fully furnished places in the same neighbourhood.
- The management of the house has been horrific. Mr. Baldeep, an AIESEC alumnus who was previously in charge of all the AIESEC intern houses, listened to our complaints and concerns, but did nothing. A simple thing, such as replacing a broken toilet seat, took over a month to accomplish. Few months ago, Mr. Baldeep resigned, and came to our house in the middle of the night, while the trainees were sleeping, to take back “his” things, such as the internet router, gas cylinders and... the light bulb. After his resignation, we have been promised a new and better management system, but we have not seen any changes. What's more, Mr. Baldeep is still being given responsibilities by AIESEC Chandigarh.
- Our rights as tenants have been disregarded. Several examples could be listed here. Some months ago, five people from one of the trainee houses were forced to move to the empty second floor for four days because the landlord wanted to use the rooms they stayed in for a wedding. The concerned interns were first told on the morning of the day they had to move. At the end of October, a meeting was held to discuss the housing situation with the leaders of AIESEC Chandigarh, including Vikram Jain, LC President, Deepvansh Khurana, LC VP, and Shalika Sharma, also LC VP. We talked about our interest in moving out of the house and said we would give them notice. A few days later Vikram turned on us saying we had already said we were moving out and followed by informing us that they were “evacuating” the first floor, effectively kicking us out with only one week’s notice. Those interested in moving out were now forced to look for a place to live with no help from the LC whatsoever. One intern, who had never planned to move out, was thus forced to move to another intern house, with notice from. It should be agreed that interns are not suppose to deal with such situation to put them at such unease in a foreign country by their guest LC. This kind of treatment is totally unacceptable.
- Deposits have not been returned to us as per our contracts. Those of us who were put in the position that we were forced to move out, have received their full security deposits back after 6 weeks. However, many people who were finishing their interships, did not get their deposits back and just went back home because they did not want to fight with AIESEC Chandigarh
- Registration with the Foreign Regional Registration Office has not been completed for many interns. This registration is mandatory for the interns staying for more than six months, and is therefore of great importance to many interns, since their stay here otherwise would be illegal.
The above should cover most of the complaints we have about the situation we have been dealing with for the last months. We would like to repeat that while we are dealing with our situation as best as we can, we want to make absolutely certain that interns in the future do not face these kinds of problems. Any action that could be taken by both LCs and MCs to improve the situation and management we believe should be seriously considered.
While all of the interns here are enjoying the stay and are grateful to AIESEC for the opportunity to complete these internships, there is no denying that our experiences with the Chandigarh LC have done nothing to uphold the good name of AIESEC. We feel that we owe the organization less and less, which is very unfortunate indeed, especially for the hard-working LCs of our native countries, who have done nothing wrong in this situation.
Yours sincerly,
A concerned group of interns
Our main problem was the housing situation. While we expected India to be a challenging place to live and work in, we never expected to be mistreated in the way we have experienced here. In the end, some of us found the situation unbearable and we felt forced to start looking for another place to stay. Others, who are staying for shorter periods of time, do not have that option, and have to put up with AIESEC Chandigarh's management. These are the main complaints we have about our housing situation so far:
- During the summer houses had been overcrowded(May-November= This is specifically true for one of the houses, where one floor housed 9 interns in two bedrooms and a living room.
- Basic amenities are missing. There is no possibility for hot water, there is no washing machine and we lack closet space and other basic furniture. Previously, up to 18 people were sharing a single WI-FI network. Few times we were without any internet connection for many weeks, even though we paid for it. During the same period, we were also lacking gas in the kitchen, which made cooking at home impossible.
- We are being overcharged. Every person has been paying Rs. 3,000 for one month(plus internet and electricity), which for the previous months has added up to more than the rent AIESEC Chandigarh is paying to the landlord. While they assure us that this money is being spent for investing in housing or to cover for periods when they have fewer interns, we have still not seen any documentation of this fact, even though we have asked for it on several occasions. During our search for another place to stay we have discovered that the price the landlord is demanding for our unfurnished apartment is the same as many others are asking for fully furnished places in the same neighbourhood.
- The management of the house has been horrific. Mr. Baldeep, an AIESEC alumnus who was previously in charge of all the AIESEC intern houses, listened to our complaints and concerns, but did nothing. A simple thing, such as replacing a broken toilet seat, took over a month to accomplish. Few months ago, Mr. Baldeep resigned, and came to our house in the middle of the night, while the trainees were sleeping, to take back “his” things, such as the internet router, gas cylinders and... the light bulb. After his resignation, we have been promised a new and better management system, but we have not seen any changes. What's more, Mr. Baldeep is still being given responsibilities by AIESEC Chandigarh.
- Our rights as tenants have been disregarded. Several examples could be listed here. Some months ago, five people from one of the trainee houses were forced to move to the empty second floor for four days because the landlord wanted to use the rooms they stayed in for a wedding. The concerned interns were first told on the morning of the day they had to move. At the end of October, a meeting was held to discuss the housing situation with the leaders of AIESEC Chandigarh, including Vikram Jain, LC President, Deepvansh Khurana, LC VP, and Shalika Sharma, also LC VP. We talked about our interest in moving out of the house and said we would give them notice. A few days later Vikram turned on us saying we had already said we were moving out and followed by informing us that they were “evacuating” the first floor, effectively kicking us out with only one week’s notice. Those interested in moving out were now forced to look for a place to live with no help from the LC whatsoever. One intern, who had never planned to move out, was thus forced to move to another intern house, with notice from. It should be agreed that interns are not suppose to deal with such situation to put them at such unease in a foreign country by their guest LC. This kind of treatment is totally unacceptable.
- Deposits have not been returned to us as per our contracts. Those of us who were put in the position that we were forced to move out, have received their full security deposits back after 6 weeks. However, many people who were finishing their interships, did not get their deposits back and just went back home because they did not want to fight with AIESEC Chandigarh
- Registration with the Foreign Regional Registration Office has not been completed for many interns. This registration is mandatory for the interns staying for more than six months, and is therefore of great importance to many interns, since their stay here otherwise would be illegal.
The above should cover most of the complaints we have about the situation we have been dealing with for the last months. We would like to repeat that while we are dealing with our situation as best as we can, we want to make absolutely certain that interns in the future do not face these kinds of problems. Any action that could be taken by both LCs and MCs to improve the situation and management we believe should be seriously considered.
While all of the interns here are enjoying the stay and are grateful to AIESEC for the opportunity to complete these internships, there is no denying that our experiences with the Chandigarh LC have done nothing to uphold the good name of AIESEC. We feel that we owe the organization less and less, which is very unfortunate indeed, especially for the hard-working LCs of our native countries, who have done nothing wrong in this situation.
Yours sincerly,
A concerned group of interns
Ahahahahahahahahaha.........This Character Baldeep is seriously worth DISCUSSING over Coffee with. I wonder why you guys haven't gone to hire authorities with these issues.
ReplyDeleteBlame yourself guys...you could have rent a hotel room for one night to make them scare or something of that sought as to show your anger. Its Not Europe or U.S my friends...its India. Hard way is the religion here.....Either Shout and scream for rights or sit back and get treated the way you are.
Happy AIESEC living my friends. And people are responsible and very Professional here,All are not AIESEC'S Chandigarh. Its just, you met with wrong people.
I would really like to come back again right here for likewise good articles or blog posts.
ReplyDeleteRoom Rent in Chandigarh