Internship scheme aims to bridge skill gap among youth: Nirmala Sitharaman
The PM Internship Scheme (PMIS) was highlighted as designed to bridge the gap between industry skill requirements and the skill sets of job seekers
Industry representatives flagged a persistent shortfall of workforce readiness among graduates and job seekers nationwide
The scheme was upgraded, raising the monthly stipend to ₹9,000 and lowering the minimum eligibility age to eighteen years
Final-year undergraduate students are now permitted to participate in the scheme, which is administered by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs
PM Internship Scheme (PMIS) — Design and 2026 Upgrade
PMIS is a Union government scheme intended to provide real-world workplace exposure to young job seekers by placing them as interns in India's top companies, addressing the mismatch between formal education and industry-ready skills. It was first announced in the Union Budget 2024-25 and formally launched on 3 October 2024.
Key Details
- Original design: one crore (10 million) internships over five years, in India's top 500 companies (by average CSR spending over three years), with a pilot target of 1.25 lakh internships in FY 2024-25
- Original stipend structure (2024 launch): ₹5,000/month (₹4,500 from government, ₹500 from company's CSR funds) plus a one-time ₹6,000 joining grant from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA)
- 2026 upgrade: monthly stipend raised to ₹9,000, with the government bearing 90% and the host company bearing 10%; a further ₹6,000 is disbursed in two installments; eligibility age band widened from 21-24 years to 18-25 years
- Final-year graduate and postgraduate students are now eligible, in consultation with the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education; internship duration was revised from a fixed 12 months to a 6-9 month band
- The scheme is administered by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, distinguishing it from skilling schemes run by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE)
The stipend hike and age/eligibility relaxation are policy responses to low initial uptake and industry feedback that the original cohort (only non-students aged 21-24) excluded a large pool of final-year students who are most in need of pre-placement industry exposure.
CSR Framework as a Funding Mechanism (Companies Act, 2013)
PMIS partly funds internship stipends through corporate CSR contributions, linking it to India's mandatory CSR regime — a distinctive design feature UPSC could test in comparison with other skilling schemes funded purely through budgetary allocation.
Key Details
- Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 mandates companies meeting specified net worth (₹500 crore), turnover (₹1,000 crore), or net profit (₹5 crore) thresholds to spend at least 2% of average net profits of the preceding three years on CSR activities
- Schedule VII of the Companies Act lists eligible CSR activities, including "employment enhancing vocational skills" — the entry under which PMIS-linked company contributions are typically routed
- CSR spending is monitored by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the same ministry administering PMIS
By tapping into companies' statutory CSR obligations for part of the stipend, PMIS reduces the pure fiscal burden on the exchequer while creating a formal channel for corporate CSR spend to support youth employability — a hybrid public-private financing model.
Skilling Ecosystem — NEP 2020 and Complementary Schemes
The skill-gap problem PMIS addresses is also targeted by other government interventions, and UPSC frequently tests the ability to distinguish between overlapping skilling/employment schemes.
Key Details
- National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 calls for integrating vocational education into mainstream schooling and higher education, targeting at least 50% of learners exposed to vocational education by 2025
- National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), under MSDE, reimburses employers a share of stipends paid to apprentices under the Apprentices Act, 1961 — distinct from PMIS, which is run by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and targets internships rather than statutory apprenticeships
- Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), also under MSDE, provides short-term skill certification rather than paid on-the-job placements
PMIS is best distinguished from NAPS/PMKVY as a placement-and-exposure scheme (paid internship in a real company) rather than a training-and-certification scheme, and it sits under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs rather than MSDE — a distinction useful for eliminating options in scheme-matching MCQs.
- PMIS launched: 3 October 2024; first announced in Union Budget 2024-25
- Original target: 1 crore internships over 5 years in India's top 500 companies (by 3-year average CSR spend)
- 2026 revised stipend: ₹9,000/month (90% government, 10% company) plus ₹6,000 in two installments
- Revised eligibility age: 18-25 years (previously 21-24 years); final-year undergraduate/postgraduate students now eligible
- Revised internship duration: 6-9 months (previously fixed at 12 months)
- Nodal ministry: Ministry of Corporate Affairs
- Mandatory CSR spend threshold (Companies Act, 2013, Section 135): 2% of average net profit of preceding 3 years for qualifying companies