₹5000 pm PM internship scheme rolls out; M&M, Max Life, Alembic evince interest

The Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs today rolled out the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme (PMIS) on pilot basis to provide one lakh jobs to unemployed youth aged between 21 and 24, by December 2 this year. The pilot project is the first step in the direction of the budget announcement this year to provide internships to one crore youth in the top 500 companies in five years.

M&M, Alembic Pharma, and Max Life insurance have already evinced interest in the scheme. Interns will be paid ₹5000 per month, of which ₹4500 will be disbursed by the government through direct benefit transfer.

As a part of the pilot, a centralised platform, in the form of a portal (www.pminternship.mca.gov.in) accessible to both internship seekers and companies, has been launched today to manage the entire internship cycle.

“Prior to announcing the scheme in the budget, the government held discussions with the industry through CII, FICCI, and Assocham. We wanted to run it as pilot project before it goes to the Cabinet. Today the pilot project is being launched,” says a government official. 

Key Dates

The source pointed out that between October 3 and October 10 the companies will list out the internship vacancies on the website. “In all probability, the portal will be opened for the youth to register for the internship opportunities. The candidate registration will continue till October 25. A list of shortlisted candidates will be prepared on October 26. Companies will finalise the names of the candidates beginning 27th October till 7th November,” the official said. 

The selection will be made by the companies. Between November 8 and November 15, the candidates will be given the offer of internship and time to accept it. Actual commencement will begin on December 2. A period of twelve months will commence from December 2,” said the official. It may be noted that for a period of one year, the government will pay ₹4500 per month to the candidates and ₹500 will be given by the company. 

Cos start onboarding

The source pointed out that as of morning of October 2, 111 companies came on board. “Companies from agriculture and allied sectors, auto and pharmaceutical sectors have come on board so far. From the auto sector, M&M has evinced interest. Alembic Pharma and Max Life Insurance are amongst those that have evinced interests. States covered as of today are Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telanagana and Gujarat,” the official said.  

“Unemployable people are the target of the scheme. We are giving them exposure of the top five hundred companies in the country. We expect provide internship to one lakh candidates by December,” the official added. The government will spend ₹800 crore on the pilot project this year.

Eligibility

Youth aged between 21 and 24 who are not employed full time and not engaged in full time education are eligible under the scheme. Candidates who have passed the high school, higher secondary school, possess ITI certificate, polytechnic diploma, or are graduates with degree such as BA, B.Sc, B.Com, BCA, BBA, and B.Pharma among others are eligible to apply for internship under the scheme.