Expansion of the Prime Minister Internship Scheme

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is in the process of expanding the Prime Minister Internship Scheme, which currently operates as a pilot programme. This expansion involves consultations to prepare a Cabinet note.

Key Features and Changes

• Inclusion of Companies: The scheme is likely to extend its reach to all companies engaged in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), not just the top 500 companies.
• Age Adjustment: The scheme may lower the age requirement to accommodate candidates from industrial training institutes and polytechnics.
• Integration of Lessons: Insights from the current and previous pilots will be integrated into the full-fledged scheme for better implementation.
• Launch Timeline: The government plans to fully launch the scheme by September, following the learnings from the pilot programme.

Budgetary Allocations

The scheme's budget allocation for the fiscal year 2025-26 has been raised to ₹10,831.07 crore from ₹380 crore in the revised estimates for 2024-25.

Current Pilot and Participation

• 24,392 companies were engaged in CSR activities in 2022-23.
• During the pilot stage, the top 500 companies, based on their average CSR expenditure over the last three years, were eligible.
• Companies could voluntarily participate and collaborate with entities like suppliers and vendors.
• Other companies needed MCA's permission to participate in the pilot.

Outcomes of the Pilot Programme

• The pilot, targeting youth employability, faced challenges affecting intern uptake, such as location, travel, and internship duration.
• In the first round, over 127,000 internships were offered, and the second round saw around 115,000 offers.
• Since December of the previous year, over 28,000 candidates accepted offers but only about 8,700 joined, as per a standing committee report.