PM Internship Scheme: In the second trial of the government’s flagship internship program, the percentage of female candidates jumps from 31% to 41%

The government was obliged to modify the rules of this flagship program due to a mismatch between internship opportunities and participation, as well as a notable gender imbalance in the first pilot round of the PM Internship Scheme earlier this year. The actions taken to increase participation, such as disclosing details about the company name, profile, and location, appear to have had a very noticeable effect: the percentage of female applicants in the total number of applicants increased significantly from 31% in the first round to 41% in the second round.

One of the main issues raised by Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance to the government was the gender disparity, with a 72:28 male to female intern ratio, according to a report submitted to the Lok Sabha on Monday. The report said, “While appreciating the Ministry (of Corporate Affairs) for making every effort to meet the ambitious target of the scheme, the Committee urges the Ministry to act swiftly and decisively to overcome/address the key challenges faced during the pilot phase, namely: mismatch between the number of internship opportunities offered and actual participation; longer internship durations; under-utilization of funds; imbalanced gender ratio of male to female interns stands at 72:28).”

In response, the administration said that following the first pilot, the numbers increased. Regarding the reported gender disparity among interns chosen under the Scheme, it is argued that 31% of applicants in Round I of the Pilot Project were female. In response to the Committee, it stated that the 28 percent female representation among interns is nearly in line with the female representation during the application process.

One of the main concerns has been the low acceptance rate of offers made under the internship scheme. During the “Candidate Open House for the PM Internship Scheme” in March, prospective applicants also brought up a few issues with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs regarding the Scheme, such as the need to relax the age limit from 24 to 25 years old, employment opportunities following internship, and a few IT-related openings.

The administration informed the Committee that more women are running for office in Round II as a result of the modifications made to the Scheme and IEC (information, education, and communication) initiatives. “More than 41% of the applicants in Round II are female candidates. It stated that the Round II joining and selection procedure was still in progress.

Candidates for the PM Internship Program

There was a significant discrepancy between the number of applications and those who accepted internship offers during the Scheme’s initial pilot cycle. As of July 17, more than 71,000 offers were submitted by businesses in Round II, of which more than 22,500 have been accepted. The selection process is still in progress, according to statistics presented to Parliament last week by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. In the second round, over 2.14 lakh applicants submitted more than 4.55 lakh applications.

Companies nationwide listed around 1.27 lakh internship openings on the PMIS Portal during Round I. In contrast, 1.81 lakh individuals submitted more than 6.21 lakh applications. More than 60,000 individuals received offers of internships totaling more than 82,000, and more than 28,000 of them accepted. Only 8,700 people applied for the internship, though.

The gender breakdown reveals that although the percentage of female interns increased from 31% in the first round to 41% at the application stage in the second round, the percentage of female interns was only 28% in the first round; however, the corresponding number for the interns was not available for the second round.

Additional concerns regarding the PM Internship Program

In a separate report presented to the Lok Sabha last week, the Standing Committee also identified underutilization of funding for the PM Internship Scheme as one of the major problems. The budget projection of Rs 2,000 crore for the fiscal year 2024–2025 was decreased to Rs 380 crore, and as of mid-February, actual spending was Rs 21.10 crore. After then, the amount was significantly increased to Rs 10,831.07 crore for the 2025–2026 fiscal year.

The Committee stated that a dynamic reevaluation of the scheme’s finances is required. These finances are adequate for the pilot phase, but scaling up requires a dynamic review of financial demands. Although these attributes are praiseworthy, the research noted that issues with monitoring, stakeholder participation, inclusion, and postinternship results still exist and have an effect on overall budget efficiency.

In order to guarantee that interns are prepared for the workforce, the Committee also pointed out that host businesses must match their training programs with industry skill requirements. It had urged easing eligibility requirements for applicants who were marginalized and economically weaker, as well as recommending regular independent evaluations for transparency. “The Committee emphasizes that the internship-to-employment conversion rate should be a major success indicator during the program’s pilot period. In order to make sure the program successfully generates career prospects and complies with industry standards, the Committee advises setting up a strong mechanism to monitor and track this statistic,” the statement read.

The Committee also raised concerns about the Scheme’s qualifying requirements, which reject applicants if any of their family members are permanent government employees or earn more than Rs 8 lakh. According to the committee, it is unreasonable to completely exclude families of regular government employees because many of them make less than Rs 8 lakh and would require assistance under the program.

In response, the Ministry stated that it is conducting a concurrent evaluation of the Scheme by means of a feedback survey, following which it implemented some of the modifications in the second round. The Ministry made the decision to give candidates the precise geotagged location of the internship in addition to the name and profile of the organization in order to address the problem of low joining. The candidates were also shown additional perks or support that the organization provided. Dashboards were also provided to the state governments for active monitoring and to encourage youth participation in the scheme, it said.

With a total investment of Rs 2 lakh crore, the internship program was a component of the Prime Minister’s Package for Employment and Skilling, which was unveiled in the FY25 Budget. Over the course of five years, the program seeks to place one crore young people in internships with the top 500 corporations. Under the scheme, an amount of Rs 4,500 is provided per month by the Government of India through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) with an additional Rs 500 offset provided by the company’s CSR (corporate social responsibility) funds. Additionally, the government offers a one-time payment of Rs 6,000 annually for incidentals to cover the chosen intern’s other expenses.