Internship scheme aims to bridge skill gap among youth: Nirmala Sitharaman
The PM Internship Scheme is designed to bridge the gap between industry requirements and the skill sets of job seekers. Recognizing a significant shortfall in skilled labor nationwide, senior industry leaders emphasized the need for enhanced workforce readiness. Thus, the government upgraded the scheme, raising stipends to ₹9,000 and lowering the eligibility age to eighteen. Now, final-year…
Finance and corporate affairs minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the PM Internship Scheme on Friday, aiming to bridge the skill gap between industry demands and job seeker capabilities. Sitharaman highlighted this during an event for scheme beneficiaries in New Delhi.
During the scheme's consultations, senior industry representatives expressed concerns over insufficient skilled workers despite high hiring requirements across sectors. Likewise, many young job seekers lacked the necessary skills industry sought, Sitharaman noted. Consequently, the government launched the internship scheme to equip youth with industry-relevant skills through internships at leading companies, making them job-ready.
To enhance the scheme's appeal, the government raised the monthly stipend from ₹5,000 to ₹9,000 for the ongoing third phase of the pilot project. The minimum eligible age was lowered from 21 to 18 years, while the upper age limit remained at 24. The internship duration was shortened to six or nine months, addressing feedback from service sector companies. The scheme is now open to final-year undergraduate students as well.
The move came after a lackluster response to the first two phases of the pilot project, prompting the ministry to explore new measures to boost participation in the third phase. The first phase was launched late 2024. The corporate affairs ministry is spearheading the implementation of this initiative.
Written by urgent.news from The Economic Times - Economy's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
