INTERNSHIP LESSONS

Industry feedback and its own experience are encouraging the govt to fine-tune a scheme that offers the youth hands-on training with India Inc

- RUCHIKA CHITRAVANSHI

The first few months of its internship scheme have proved to be a learning experience for the government.

The Prime Minister Internship Scheme was launched on October 3 as a pilot project to equip India's youth with industry-relevant skills by offering training at top companies across sectors-such as automotive, healthcare, banking, IT, aviation, and media-for a stipend. However, only about one-third of the offers from India Inc have found takers, according to a statement in the Lok Sabha.

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), it is learnt, plans to hold discussions with industry and state representatives to refine the scheme and enhance its appeal to the youth.

The government's commitment to scaling up the initiative is reflected in the substantial budget increase, with ₹10,831 crore allocated for FY26-five times the outlay of ₹2,000 crore in FY25 and over 27 times than the Revised Estimates of ₹380 crore.

The indication is that the MCA will launch it as a full-fledged scheme in the next financial year after incorporating the lessons learnt until now.

Currently, the top 500 companies with the highest average corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure over the last three years are to be part of the scheme.