The percentage of females applying for the PM internship scheme (PMIS) has jumped from 31% in the first round of the pilot project to 41% in the second round, the government informed the standing committee on finance.
Mass outreach programmes
The government said that the increase in women participation can be attributed to the mass outreach programmes carried out by the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) and various state governments. In addition, a bunch of changes that were made into the scheme helped in drawing a larger number of females, the MCA told the panel.
While the selection process for the second round is still under progress, the ministry said that the percentage of females who were recruited for internships in the first round stood at 28%, which was consistent with the percentage of female applications (31%). In the second round, which started in January this year, 327 companies have posted over 118,000 internship opportunities – new and edited unfilled opportunities of the previous round – across 735 districts in the country. Against these, over 455,000 applications were submitted from 214,000 candidates.
Internship location
The ministry said that it has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to push PMIS. To address the issue of low participation initially, the ministry said that in the second round, the exact internship location, along with geo-tagging of the internship location was provided on the portal so that the applicants could apply for internships based on their location preferences.
Further, to address the information gap about the roles being offered, the name of the companies and their profiles was made visible on the portal in the second round. The applicants were also informed about the additional benefits that the companies are willing to offer in addition to the government-stipulated stipend.
“Most of the State and union territory governments have designated nodal departments or officers to support outreach activities. Additionally, the ministry has appointed nodal officers in its regional offices who are actively involved in executing Information, education, and communication (IEC) initiatives to connect with the target audience nationwide,” the MCA informed the panel.