A request to relax the age limit from 24 years to 25 years, doubts over employment prospects after internship and very few openings in the information technology (IT) sector — these were some of the concerns flagged by prospective applicants in ‘Candidate Open House for the PM Internship Scheme’ organised by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on Thursday. Several attendees asked whether interns would be on the payroll of the companies following the completion of the internship under the PMIS, while some suggested the government should formulate a policy to ensure jobs after internships. In response, officials attending the session said employment post-internship is not guaranteed and that a year-long internship experience will make applicants more employable. “After your internship, it is entirely the company’s decision to take you on roll or not. This scheme ensures a 12 month internship and a completion certificate after 12 months,” a person involved with the implementation of the scheme said during the session. This was the third such open house session held for the candidates, which saw around 1,700 registrations and more than 1,750 queries. The earlier sessions were held on March 10 and 19. “Internships are a stepping stone to your career. You will get a chance to learn from top companies in India, build networks and gain experience. This will definitely help you in your career,” the person added. The weekly open house session was being held to answer queries regarding the scheme. In the second round of the scheme, which began in January, around 1.18 lakh internship opportunities are up for grabs, spread across 735 districts. The application window for the second round will close on March 31. This comes after a lukewarm response to the scheme’s first pilot round last year when the number of candidates who joined the internship were lower than expected. Earlier, on March 17, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while launching the mobile app for the scheme, had even urged more companies to participate in the PM Internship Scheme, citing larger national interest. “In this second phase, more industries have come forward. I appreciate the industry’s readiness to come forward and offer positions, but for a country of our size and with the objective that the top 500 companies participate, we still have some way to go,” she had said. In the open house session, some attendees also requested raising the age limit from 24 years to 25 years, citing lack of available job opportunities. In response, officials reiterated that the scheme is only for applicants aged between 21-24 years. “There are very few jobs related to software development here and even in those that are available, 10x more people have applied than the requirement,” another attendee said. In the first round of the pilot of the scheme that started in October last year, over 1.27 lakh internship opportunities were provided by companies in 745 districts across the country, as per Ministry of Corporate Affairs data shared with the Parliament’s Standing Committee. Around 6.21 lakh applications were received from over 1.8 lakh candidates. Over 82,000 internship offers were made to over 60,000 candidates. Out of this, over 28,000 candidates accepted offers to join the internship but only over 8,700 candidates joined the scheme. The top five companies that have offered internship opportunities under the first pilot round of the PMIS are: Jubilant Foodworks Limited (14,263 internship opportunities), Maruti Suzuki India Limited (12,444), ONGC Limited (6,020), Reliance Industries Limited (5,000), and Eicher Motors Limited (4,260). As per the region-wise breakup of the 8,725 interns in the first round, Uttar Pradesh led with 1,234 interns, followed by 994 interns in Assam, 715 in Bihar, 693 in Madhya Pradesh and 467 in Odisha. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs 4,500 will be provided per month by the Government of India to selected candidates through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), with an additional Rs 500 offset to be provided by the company’s CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds. The government also provides a one-time grant of Rs 6,000 per annum for incidentals to cover miscellaneous expenses incurred by selected candidates during their internship.
