The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) is expecting a significant jump in the selection of candidates and acceptance of internship offers in the second round of the pilot phase of the PM Internship scheme (PMIS), said a senior official. The expectation stems from the changes proposed to the scheme’s procedure including the facility for candidates to opt for units closer to the domiciles.
The ministry has identified unwillingness of the candidates to relocate and lack of understanding about the scheme for the lower-than-expected intake of students under the scheme.
In the first round, even though the total registrations were high (over 6 lakh), the number of candidates who accepted the internship offers dropped sharply (over 28,000). This, as per the official, was because the candidates were not fully aware of the eligibility criteria. “A lot of candidates who applied initially didn’t want to relocate to other locations. In some cases, candidates who were still studying applied for the positions which resulted in their rejection at the interview stage. There were also candidates who were dropped from the selection process because their family income exceeded the threshold,” the official said.
To deal with these challenges, the ministry took inputs from the participating companies to understand their concerns, used social media extensively to sensitise the candidates, and made candidates aware of the eligibility conditions. The internship opportunities are now being geo-tagged so that candidates can apply for the positions closer to their current location.
These steps will result in jump in the overall selections as a percentage of total registrations, the official said.
In the first round of the pilot project, which was launched in December 2024, more than 1.27 lakh internship opportunities were provided by the partner companies across the country. Against these, 6.21 lakh applications were received by MCA. Based on the applications, companies made 82,077 internship offers to 60,866 candidates out of which 28,141 candidates accepted offers to join the internship.
The application window of the pilot phase closed on April 22. “Currently, the companies are in the process of interviewing and shortlisting candidates which will continue till May 10,” the source said.
Experts said that low stipend of Rs 5,000 per month could deter potential candidates from joining the scheme. Additionally, the scheme has still not attracted a large number of top 500 companies who were targetted under the programme.
Meanwhile, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday urged industry leaders to continue partnering with the government and build on the growing momentum of PMIS by offering more opportunities, provide mentorship and wider reach.
MCA aimed to provide 125,000 internship opportunities in FY25. The partner companies have been selected on the basis of average corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure in the last three years, and covers a large number of diverse sectors including aviation and defence, automotive, banking and financial services, chemical industry, oil, gas and energy etc.