Syllabus: GS2/Government Policy & Intervention
Context
- Early pilot data reveals a gap and structural mismatches between design, demand and execution of the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme (PMIS).
| Overview of PM Internship Scheme (PMIS) | |
| Announced In | Union Budget 2024–25 |
| Organization | Ministry of Corporate Affairs |
| Purpose | To provide real-life work experience to job seekers in top companies |
| Number of Positions | 1,25,000 positions in 500 top companies |
| Eligibility Criteria | – ITI: Matriculation + ITI in relevant trade – Diploma: Intermediate + AICTE-recognized diploma – Degree: Bachelor’s degree from UGC/AICTE-recognized university |
| Exclusions | – Graduates from IITs, IIMs, NLUs, IISER, NIDs, and IIITs, and having qualifications such as CA, CMA, CS, MBBS, BDS, MBA, any master’s or higher degree. – Those undergoing any skill, apprenticeship, internship or student training programme under Central Government or State Government schemes. – Those who have completed apprenticeship or training under National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) or National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) at any point. – If the annual income of any of the family members of the candidate exceeds ₹8 lakhs. – If any member of the family is a permanent/regular government employee. |
| Benefits | – ₹5,000 monthly stipend (₹4500 by Central Government and ₹500 by Industry) – One-time Grant of ₹6000 for incidentals – Gain real-life work experience – Insurance coverage for every intern under Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. |
Key Features of the PM Internship Scheme (PMIS)
- Target Group: Open to young individuals aged 21–24 years.
- Special focus on candidates from low-income households, ensuring inclusivity and equal opportunity.
- Internship Duration: Each internship lasts for 12 months, offering sustained and meaningful engagement with the host organization.
- Scale and Reach:
- Pilot phase (FY 2024–25): 1.25 lakh internships.
- Five-year goal: 1 crore internships across India.
- Industry Sectors: Internship opportunities are offered across 24 key sectors, including oil and gas; energy; automotive; banking and financial services; travel and hospitality; IT and manufacturing, among others.
- Company Selection Criteria: Participating companies are drawn from the top 500 firms in India (with a strong emphasis on Tier-II and Tier-III city youth), selected based on their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending over the past three years.
- It ensures internships are offered by ethically responsible and socially committed organizations.
Significance of PM Internship Scheme (PMIS)
- Bridging the Skill Gap: PMIS addresses the mismatch between education and industry requirements.
- It enhances job readiness, innovation, and entrepreneurial capability among young professionals by allowing interns to apply theoretical learning in practical settings.
- Empowering the Next Generation: PMIS is designed as a nation-building exercise, as it aims to create a workforce that is skilled, confident, and future-ready.
- It supports India’s larger vision of becoming a global hub for skilled talent and ensures that no youth is left behind due to financial or social barriers.
Issues & Concerns Highlighted Through Pilot Data
- Declining Willingness To Participate:Candidate acceptance rates dropped by 12.4% between the first (late 2024) and second (mid 2025) pilot rounds, while the number of offers increased and over 70 new companies joined.
- This decline occurred despite improved outreach, clearer job descriptions, and better information dissemination.
- It signals a growing awareness of the programme but a declining willingness to participate, pointing to deeper issues in execution.
- Uneven State-Level Outcomes: Pilot data shows regional disparities—some states recorded high internship offers but poor take-up rates.
- It highlights that interest and availability do not translate into participation.
- The real bottleneck lies in conversion, suggesting flaws in scheme design rather than lack of opportunity.
- Internship Duration and Alignment Issues: Many candidates find it difficult to commit to a 12-month stint, particularly when stipends are modest and placements are far from home.
- Moreover, the limited alignment between candidates’ academic backgrounds and available internship roles has reduced interest and engagement.
- Opportunity Costs for Youth in Smaller Towns: For participants from smaller towns, relocation costs and loss of local employment opportunities pose real barriers.
- The economic trade-off makes participation unattractive, even when the internship promises exposure and experience.
- Unclear Employment Pathways: The government has clarified that it does not guarantee job placements, while the PMIS is framed as a skilling and exposure initiative.
- In a labour market where youth unemployment remains high, this uncertainty diminishes appeal.
- Although companies may offer jobs at their discretion post-internship, the absence of structured employment outcomes limits motivation.
- Financial Underutilisation: Budgetary trends reinforce the implementation gap.
- ₹2,000 crore was allocated to the PMIS in FY 2024–25 (Budget Estimates), and it was drastically revised down to ₹380 crore.
- Such low fund utilisation indicates poor absorption and weak ground-level execution.
- The scheme has failed to achieve the momentum required for nationwide expansion despite substantial fiscal backing.
Way Forward: Recalibration Over Expansion
- The PMIS remains a promising idea with significant potential for bridging the skills-employment divide.
- However, scale cannot substitute for substance.
- Before nationwide rollout, the government must recalibrate the programme by:
- Shortening internship durations to make them more feasible.
- Aligning roles more closely with candidate skills and interests.
- Encouraging local or hybrid placements to reduce relocation barriers.
- Integrating clearer pathways to employment, even if probabilistic.
- These adjustments can transform PMIS from a symbolic initiative into a genuinely transformative youth-skilling platform.
Policy Recommendation
- A recent report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance called for an independent and periodic evaluation of the scheme.
- It recommended relaxing eligibility norms, especially for marginalized and economically weaker candidates, and emphasized the need for robust tracking of internship-to-employment conversions as a key success metric.
- It urged greater engagement with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are currently underrepresented in the scheme.
| Daily Mains Practice Question [Q] To what extent does the Prime Minister Internship Scheme (PMIS) reflect a mismatch between its ambitious scale and the practical challenges of implementation, and how can policy design be improved to bridge this gap? |
