Prime Minister internship scheme: Over 155,000 apply within a day

Shortlist of candidates identified by AI to be shared with firms on Oct 15

Over 155,000 candidates have registered for about 91,000 opportunities on the internship portal since it was opened for applicants on Saturday evening, according to sources in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. 

A shortlist using artificial intelligence would be prepared to identify eligible candidates and match them to the suitable internship opportunity. The shortlist would be shared with the companies on October 15. 

This is part of the pilot for the Prime Minister internship scheme launched on October 3. The actual internship would start from December 2. The scheme was announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of the government job-push agenda in her budget speech on July 23. 

The scheme would target providing 125,000 internship opportunities to youth aged 21 to 24 in FY 2024-25 with a budget of Rs 800 crore. 

Government aims to skill one crore youth in India’s top companies in five years through the internship scheme. The youth will gain exposure for 12 months to real-life business environment, varied professions and employment opportunities. 

The internship opportunities have been posted by 193 companies, including by major private sector players such as Jubilant Foodworks, Maruti Suzuki India, Eicher Motor Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Muthoot Finance, Reliance Industries, among others.

These are spread across 24 sectors, with the greatest share available in the oil, gas & energy sector, followed by travel and hospitality, automotives, banking and financial services among others.   

The eligibility criteria for internship candidates requires them to have passed High School, Higher Secondary School, possess a certificate from an Industrial Training Institute, hold a diploma from a Polytechnic Institute or have a graduate degree. The persons should also be Indian nationals, who are not fully employed and engaged in full-time education. Those enrolled in online or distance learning programmes are eligible to apply. 

Candidates would be able to browse internships based on their preferred sectors, roles, locations and apply up to five opportunities.

The MCA would provide direct benefit transfer of Rs 6,000 to the intern on joining and a cover under the PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima and PM Surakha Yojana. A financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per month would also be provided to the intern of which Rs 4,500 would be disbursed by the government and Rs 500 would be paid by the company from its CSR funds. 

The shortlisting would include weeding out those who are ineligible to apply such as chartered accountants, certified management accountants, those with degrees from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) or Indian Institute of Management (IIM).  If any member of the applicant’s family has income exceeding Rs 8 lakh for FY 2023-24, or is a government employee would also be ineligible. 

Strong demand
 

155,109 Total registrations so far

91,000 Internship opportunities

125,000 internships target for FY 2024-25