Photo: pminternship.mca.gov.in

As many as 6.5 lakh youth had applied for internships under the PM Internship Scheme in Top Companies (Scheme) pilot project as of Friday last, when the window closed for the 1.27 lakh opportunities initially being offered by Corporate India under the scheme, according to government sources.

The project is aimed at providing on-the-job training to one crore people over five years.

The number of applications does not equate to the number of individual applicants, clarified an official source, as every applicant can apply for five different internships that have been offered.

The scheme’s pilot, learnings from which would be used to scale it up for a full-fledged roll-out, has attracted internship offers from 280 major firms such as Tata Steel, ITC Limited, ICICI Bank, and the Mahindra Group.

The deadline for applications was extended from November 10 to November 15 to provide youngsters more time to apply.

Unemployed youth between 21 and 24 years of age, who do not have a family member earning over ₹8 lakh per annum, are eligible for the scheme.

Companies that have signed up for the scheme would now begin the selection process. As per the original timeline, the selected interns are expected to begin their year-long tenure with companies on December 2.

Many youth who had registered said they were hopeful of getting selected, while for a few it was a “back-up” option.

College professors said while students were enthusiastic, very few had applied as only those not currently enrolled in full-time programmes were eligible.

On October 3, the portal was launched for companies to register and opened for applicants on October 12 for profile creation.

On October 23, the applications for internships began officially. Applicants have been asked to keep an eye out on the portal, and via mail for updates.

“For those of us who are looking for a future in academics or preparing for civil service examinations, this scheme is ideal,” said Kratika Verma, 22, who recently graduated from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), with a master’s in disaster management, and plans on pursuing a PhD.

While applying, candidates could key in preferences such as sector, functional role, State and district. According to the dashboard on the PM internship portal, internships have been offered across States and Union Territories, with the highest being in Maharashtra at 14,694, followed by Tamil Nadu at 13,263. The lowest was from Lakshadweep, which had just two offers.

Delhi offered a total of 3,543 opportunities.

According to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ guidelines, companies will pay ₹500 per month from their CSR funds, based on attendance and conduct, after which the government would initiate a direct benefit transfer of ₹4,500 to the intern’s Aadhaar-seeded bank account.

A one-time grant of ₹6,000 for incidental expenses would be provided to an intern upon joining.

While for those such as Kratika the stipend of ₹5,000 is a “huge bonus”, some feel they would not be able to sustain with ₹5,000 per month, for an entire year.

Ravikant Tiwari, 19, a third-year student at Aryabhatta College, who had applied under the scheme, said he was worried that his expenses might exceed the stipend amount. At the Delhi University, an official said while there was interest in the scheme among students, many had also applied for the six-month vice-chancellor internship scheme – initiated last year – that offers a stipend of ₹5,500 per month.