The ministry of corporate affairs has asked the top companies participating in the PM internship scheme (PMIS) to set up dedicated PMIS cells within their organisations, an official told FE. The move follows a lukewarm response to the first round of the scheme’s ongoing pilot phase.
“With in-house cells in place, these companies can better assess their workforce requirements, especially for interns, across different geographies which they operate in. It will also enable them to streamline the scheme’s implementation, manage operational issues, and develop specialised training modules for interns,” the official said.
Sources said that many companies are struggling to benefit from the scheme because of “a lack of ownership” at the company level and poor assessment of the workforce gap. For instance, in the first round, only 28,141 candidates accepted internship offers even though companies had offered 82,077 internships. This was primarily because more than 43% of these opportunities were offered in five states — Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana. The candidates from other parts of the country were not willing to locate to these states as the stipend was low — `5,000 per month in addition to a one-time allowance of Rs 6,000.
Some companies would be willing to shell out more if they get suitable candidates, according to a source. “We have seen companies usually increasing the pay scale for apprentices under the NAPS (National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme). The same thing could happen to PMIS candidates too,” Sumit Kumar, chief strategy officer at Teamlease Degree Apprenticeship, said.
The idea of setting up in-house centres could enable companies impart the relevant skills, and bridge the divide between education and employment,” Kumar added.
In order to meet its target of providing 125,000 internships in FY25, the ministry of corporate affairs recently rolled out the second round of the pilot scheme inviting fresh applications from candidates for more than 100,000 internship opportunities in over 300 companies. The ministry said that for the second round more than 70 IEC (information, education and communication) events are being conducted across India.
Last Tuesday, the ministry conducted a PMIS event in Kolkata in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Announced in the Budget 2024-25, the scheme has a target to provide internships to 10 million people in top 500 companies (based on corporate social responsibility spends) over five years. The internship will be a combination of relevant training and professional experience (of at least six months) to ensure that candidates learn and can also apply their skills in real-world settings.