New Delhi: The PM internship scheme will be aimed at youths belonging to the economically weaker households with no member earning above ₹8 lakh a year, a top corporate affairs ministry functionary said on Thursday, adding that the usual caste-based reservations will also apply in the selection of candidates.
Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Mahindra & Mahindra and Max Life Insurance were among the first batch of 111 companies that have already “come on board” to roll out this voluntary scheme, said the functionary.
As part of a pilot project for the scheme, the ministry launched on Thursday a portal through which the internship scheme will be implemented. The top 500 companies that will offer internships are selected on the basis of their average annual spending on corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations over three years (through 2022-23), the functionary said.
Any other company or financial institution wishing to adopt the scheme may get to do so but only after the MCA approval. The portal will be kept open for the companies from September 3 to 10 to allow them to create accounts and fill in relevant details. It will be made available to youths from October 12 to 25 to apply for internships.
The companies will get the lists of eligible candidates, shortlisted through the use of technology initially, by October 26 and the eligible ones could get internship offers between November 8 and 15 for their acceptance. The ministry expects 125,000 youths to start internships with the companies by December 2.
According to an initial assessment, companies submitted requests to absorb 1,077 interns in just about an hour of the launch of the portal on Thursday. The initial pilot, which will be scaled up subsequently this fiscal, is estimated to cost the government about ₹800 crore. A dedicated grievance redressal mechanism will be set up to ensure timely resolution of issues. Each selected intern will get a monthly allowance of ₹5,000 for one year, on top of a one-time aid of ₹6,000. The government will bear ₹54,000 towards monthly allowance and the one-time aid, spending ₹60,000 for each intern.
The participating companies will bear the training cost and 10% of the monthly allowance (amounting to ₹6,000 for each candidate) from their CSR funds. Unemployed persons aged 21 to 24 and without education in elite institutions like the IITs and IIMs would be among those eligible for the scheme.
FM may write to MPs/CMs
Finance and corporate affairs minister Nirmala Sitharaman may write to all members of parliament and also chief ministers to encourage youths in their constituencies and states to take advantage of this crucial central government scheme, the functionary said. The idea is to ensure broad-based participation of eligible youths in the scheme that aims to provide the interns, mainly from poor and lower middle-class families, with exposure for 12 months to real-life business environments.
