Discussions held with industry bodies regarding how to broaden and diversify scheme. Enough intern opportunities should also be made available.
With an aim of expanding their PM Internship Scheme, the government has initiated discussions with industry stakeholders regarding expanding its reach.
According to sources, India Inc is in discussions with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs over expanding their internship scheme beyond the current annual quota of approximately 100,000 internships.
“The aim is to expand this scheme to enroll at least 15 lakh (150k) candidates each year and there should be sufficient enthusiasm among youth as well as opportunities available with firms,” according to someone familiar with its development.
The PM Internship Scheme was announced as one of five employment linked schemes in India’s Union Budget 2024-25 to create formal sector employment for India’s immense youth workforce. Over five years, its aim is to place 10 million candidates within top 500 companies.
This list is determined based on their average Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure over the last three years and participation is voluntary. Government will pay monthly stipend of Rs 4,500 while each company will give another monthly incentive of Rs 500 to each candidate for consideration for election.
The Centre has begun rolling out this scheme gradually as part of a pilot phase to gauge how it operates and to customize it according to employers as well as applicants’ needs.
At present, registration under this scheme is underway with applications being accepted until today (April 22); over one lakh internship opportunities exist at top India Inc firms during this round.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs has been regularly monitoring pilot rounds. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched in March a mobile app designed to accommodate candidates, featuring easy registration using Aadhaar face authentication, personalized dashboard access to dedicated support team support as well as real time alerts of updates – she encouraged more companies to participate.
As part of its stakeholder consultations, sources had stated that the government received recommendations to expand the ambit of its scheme beyond companies within the top 500 in terms of average CSR spend over three years. Further, several candidates indicated their preference to stay near or stay in their hometowns as relocation can incur higher costs.
