The government on Thursday rolled out the internship programme on a pilot basis that will provide a total annual financial assistance of Rs 66,000 to those in the age group of 21-24 years, and aim to cover one crore youth over five years.
Under the pilot project, which is estimated to cost around Rs 800 crore, the internship will start on December 2 and expects to cover 1.25 lakh candidates in the current financial year ending March 2025, government sources said on Thursday.
Announced in the Union Budget 2024, the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme in Top Companies will also provide insurance coverage to interns.
The scheme will be implemented through the online portal ‘www.pminternship.mca.gov.in’ developed by the corporate affairs ministry.
Apart from the monthly financial assistance of Rs 5,000 for one year, there will be a one-time grant of Rs 6,000 for the interns, the sources said.
From October 12 to 25, candidates can register with minimum data in the portal and the applicants will be shortlisted on October 26.
Later, candidates will be selected by companies from October 27 to November 7. Then, the selected candidates will have time from November 8 to 15 to accept the offer, the sources said.
Up to three offers will be made to a candidate.
The top 500 companies for the scheme have been identified on the basis of their average CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) expenditure in the last three years.
The ministry has partnered with government-owned BISAG-N to run the project.