PM internship program: Relaxation in eligibility criteria for employers, 353 firms involved in pilot testing

In light of the cold response received by the corporates to the PM Internship Scheme (PMIS), the government decided to modify the terms and conditions of this particular scheme at the start of the current year to encourage more companies to participate, as informed by Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra in parliament. “In the second round of the pilot project started since January this year, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), in order to relax the criteria of eligibility, decided to consider companies with turnover above Rs.1,000 Cr. or Net Worth above Rs.500 Cr.”

In line with that, it was limited to top 500 firms, based on their average spending on corporate social responsibility over 3 years.

- Poor response from corporates

The minister’s reaction shows that in spite of this addition to the plan, there were no more than 73 firms involved in the second phase of this initiative, including the likes of Hyundai Motors, Bandhan Bank, Nirma, Godrej Consumer Products, and Pfizer. The total number of firms that registered in the first phase to provide internship opportunities in excess of 1,27,000 is only 280.

As per Malhotra, so as to induce the internships in the emerging areas, the guidelines even include the fact that if any other firm/bank/financial institution is not within the list of the top 500 but wants to join the effort, then they are free to take an approval from the MCA, which in turn will determine if the concerned firm can join the effort with the purpose that the firm concerned can represent the unrepresented sector among the existing top 500 firms.

Only 12.8% of the interns were able to find jobs in firms Earlier, the minister had also mentioned that within the total target of 1,25,000 internships for the FY25, only 16,000 had joined their companies as interns. According to the latest data available, the maximum number of intern seekers had the highest number of intern applications compared to other forms of intern application for ITI Certificate holders, diploma holders, Class 10 passouts, and Class 12 passouts. Apart from this, the companies that had the highest intern slots available are Jubilant Foodworks Ltd., Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., ONGC Ltd., Eicher Motors Ltd., Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd.

 The “PMIS” announced within the Budget 2024-25 highlights the provision of internship opportunities to a total of 10 million people within a time span of five years, paying the seekers a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000. The idea of PMIS is to develop sector-specific skill development, increase the quality of employability, and increase exposure through internship slots available within the top-performing companies and institutions of India, churning out the total employable workforce. Although this is not an internship selection platform, the company is free to provide the slots to the applicants according to their ability to provide manpower satisfaction to their companies. The total budget allocated within the FY26 is Rs 10,831 crore.