New Delhi: The government is looking into widening the age criterion for the PM Internship Scheme to open it to a larger number of youth, according to two people familiar with the development. The scheme is currently meant for those in the 21-24 age group.
The idea, which is at an early stage, is to make the age qualification 18-25 years so that candidates get a larger window to apply for the scheme and improve their chances of getting an internship, one person said.
Other criteria of the scheme, which is aimed at the socioeconomically disadvantaged section of society, will remain untouched because the focus is on those who are not otherwise likely to get internship opportunities at the top companies in the country.
As per the existing criteria, the scheme is not open to those from families with incomes above ₹8 lakh in FY24 or from families with any member having a permanent government job.
“It is the youth from the socioeconomically disadvantaged section of society that needs government support and budget funding is also involved. Hence, the focus on this segment will stay,” said the person, who spoke on condition of not being identified.
As of Monday, more than 125,000 internship offerings are on the table from about 280 top companies, according to data available on a portal dedicated to the scheme run by the ministry of corporate affairs.
Internships are available in over 20 sectors including oil, gas and energy, automotive, and travel and hospitality.
There are over 35,000 offers for graduates, followed by 31,500 for candidates who have passed class 10, and over 30,000 for those with Industrial Training Institute certificates. Diploma holders have over 22,000 offers on the table. For candidates who have cleared class 12, there are over 8,800 offers.
The application window for the pilot phase of the scheme closed on 15 November.
Jubilant Foodworks Ltd, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Reliance Industries Ltd and Larsen & Toubro Ltd are among the companies that are offering internships.
State-owned ONGC said in response to a query from Mint that the company has created 6,000 internship opportunities for the youth under various categories of minimum qualification, such as tenth, twelfth class, holders of ITI certificates and diplomas as well as graduates.
“As for any changes needed in the eligibility criteria for the scheme, the initial phase being a pilot exercise, various inputs would be taken into consideration appropriately, if required, based on feedback received, for any improvements,” ONGC said.
Apart from providing training to people with professional qualification, ONGC also intends to focus on making people without any skill set employable, the company said, referring to tenth and 12th passed candidates.
Queries emailed on Sunday to the ministry of corporate affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office on the age criterion and to the companies on the number of internships they have on offer and their views on the eligibility criteria remained unanswered at the time of publishing.
The scheme seeks to impart skills and give exposure to candidates in the top 500 companies in the country, which experts say will help make the country’s talent pool more resourceful.
Ronnie Screwvala, co-founder and chairperson of upGrad, an edtech platform, said India will emerge as the largest talent hub in the world and the PM Internship Scheme provides the right acceleration to bring youth into formal jobs.
“If there were one modification to make this beneficial at scale, it would be to broaden the entry-level benchmarks established today to include youth from all strata, as we need to build ambitions and aspirations that, in turn, will lead to success in their work lives,” said Screwvala.
upGrad, a skilling and workforce development company, has launched one of the first upskilling online programmes and a scholarship programme for 100,000 people, said Screwvala.
The PM Internship Scheme announced in the FY25 budget will offer 12-month internships in the top companies to 10 million youth over five years. The interns will get a monthly assistance of ₹4,500 from the government and ₹500 from the company, in addition to a one-time grant of ₹6,000 from the government to support them.
