The roll out of the PM Internship Scheme has been deferred for now. The scheme was set to be launched on December 2 but has been postponed. No new date has been planned for now.
“A new date will be announced shortly. The learnings from the pilot scheme have to be reviewed at present,” said a source familiar with the development, adding that it will be launched in the coming weeks.
The ambitious scheme, that aims to provide internship opportunities to 1.25 lakh students in the pilot run for a 12 month period at top India Inc firms, was set to be rolled out today with formal letters to be given to students.
Announced in the Union Budget 2024-25 as part of the Prime Minister’s package on employment and skilling, it aims to provide internship opportunities to 1 crore students over a 5 year period. The objective is to improve the employability of youth by providing them exposure to working in large companies.
In the pilot run, a total of 1.27 lakh internship opportunities were posted by companies for the scheme. Against these, approximately 6.21 lakh applications have been received.
The PM Internship Scheme portal was opened for registrations of the youth from October 12, 2024 to November 15, 2024.
An amount of Rs 2,000 crore was allocated in the Budget for FY 2024-25 out of which Rs 6.04 crore had been spent till November 20. Candidates between the age of 21 and 24 years old, who have passed atleast Class 10 are eligible for the scheme. The government will pay each candidate a one time allowance of Rs 6,000 as well as a monthly stipend Rs 4,500. The company will pay another Rs 500 per month to each candidate.
The list of the top 500 companies is based on their average Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure in the last three years and participation is voluntary.