NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister Internship Scheme, launched on a pilot basis recently, has seen a promising start, with 50 companies already onboarded to the portal within the first two days.
More than 2,200 internship opportunities have been listed on the PM Internship portal till 3 pm on October 4, sources in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) said, according to Business Line. The Government said that it has set aside ₹800 crore for the pilot scheme, which aims to provide 1,25,000 internships to youth aged between 21 and 24 in FY’25.
The MCA is administering the PM Internship Scheme, which was announced in this year’s budget as part of government efforts to give a push to job creation and skilling among youth of the country.
The internship offers under the PMIS will be given by India’s top 500 companies ranked by average CSR spend in the last three financial years. Between October 3-12 corporates can submit available positions on the internship portal. From October 12 to October 25, candidates can apply on the portal. Candidates shortlisted will be prepared on October 26 using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Between October 27-November 7 companies will review and select candidates. The candidates can then between November 8-15 accept or reject the internship offers.
Some of the big companies that had onboarded to the internship portal on first day include Mahindra &Mahindra, Alembic Pharma and Max Life Insurance. Under the scheme, the MCA will give ₹6,000 upon joining to interns. A monthly assistance of ₹5,000 (₹4,500 by government and ₹500 by companies from CSR funds) will be provided for 12 months.
Companies can provide assistance over and above ₹500 if they wish to do so. However, the excess spend will not be counted as CSR expenditure. The Centre’s reservation policy for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, Other Backward Classes, and persons with disabilities would be applicable to the internships offered under the PM Internship scheme.
Under the PM Internship Scheme, the Government aims to skill 1 crore youth over five years. The scheme will offer interns a 12-month exposure to the real world of industry, business environments and diverse professions.
