Over 28,000 people have got job offers in the pilot phase of the PM internship scheme (PMIS), while about 61,000 job-seekers were trained under it, minister of state for corporate affairs Harsh Malhotra told Lok Sabha. The minister said that in the first round of the pilot project, which started in October last year, over 6,21,000 applications were received by candidates for over 1,2700 internship opportunities offered by the participating companies across the country.
However, after the scheme was inaugurated in December, the partner companies made 82,077 internship offers to 60,866 candidates, and out of which over 28,000 candidates accepted the offers.
The minister said that the second round of the scheme is underway under which companies are currently in the process of posting new opportunities in addition to tweaking the previously unfilled offers.
Under PMIS, the government is giving a one-time grant of Rs 6,000 to each intern upon their joining the company. Besides, there is a monthly assistance of Rs 5,000 paid to the interns for the entire duration of the internship (12 months). Based on the intern’s attendance and company-specific policies related to good conduct, the participating companies pay Rs 500 to each intern (monthly) from their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds. Once the companies make payments, the government releases its share of Rs 4,500 through direct benefit transfer. The scheme is spearheaded by the MCA.
As per the minister, the government has paid Rs 4.38 crore as one-time grant into the Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts of the interns whereas monthly assistance of around Rs 1.3 crore has been sanctioned so far to those who have completed their one month.
On Tuesday, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the parliament that the intent of the scheme is not to provide job, but to provide an exposure, and “through the internship, and kind of awareness of what is there in the market for which they have to be trained.”
States such as Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha have generated the most opportunities in the first round. Earlier in December, the MCA had informed that interns from 656 districts have started their internships with companies such as IOCL, ONGC, Vedanta, Maruti Suzuki, Titan, NTPC and others.
Announced in the Budget 2024-25, PMIS aims to provide internship opportunities to 10 million people in top 500 companies over five years.