The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) 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 is in the wake of lukewarm response to the first round of the scheme’s ongoing pilot phase.
“With in-house cells in place, the companies can better assess their workforce requirements, especially for interns, across different geographics in which they operate. It will also enable them to streamline the scheme’s implementation, manage operational issues, and develop specialised training modules for the 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 the offers even though companies had offered 82,077 internships. This is because over 43% of these opportunities are offered in five states like Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana. The candidates from other parts of the country are not willing to locate to these states, especially since the stipend is low — Rs 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 the suitable candidates, accoring to a source in the know. “We have seen companies usually increasing the payscale 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.
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 1.25 lakh internships in FY25, the MCA has 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, MCA conducted a PMIS event at Kolkata in collaboration with CII (Confederation of Indian Industry).
Announced in the Budget 2024-25, PMIS 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.