7 october 2024 : Top Indian companies, including ITC, Reliance Retail, and TCS, have begun hiring interns under the new PM Internship Scheme launched by the central government on October 3. These interns are being recruited for various roles in sales, marketing, entrepreneurship, and agriculture.
About the Scheme
As per the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) portal, applicants must be between 21 and 24 years old and cannot have full-time employment. They should have completed at least Class 10 and must have an annual household income of less than ₹8 lakh for the 2023-24 financial year. Post-graduates are not eligible for this scheme.
The initiative aims to provide a monthly stipend of ₹5,000 for one year to 1 crore interns expected to join the top 500 companies over the next five years. The companies selected for the scheme were identified based on their average Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure over the past three years.
Candidates interested in applying can register on the MCA portal at www.pminternship.mca.gov.in. Their documents will then be matched with the requirements of participating companies, which will hire candidates based on their skills and needs.
Over 2,200 internship positions have already been posted on the portal, which is currently in its pilot phase. Companies such as Adani Group, Coca-Cola, Eicher, Deloitte, Mahindra Group, Maruti Suzuki, PepsiCo, HDFC, Wipro, ICICI, Hindustan Unilever, Samsung, and Hewlett Packard are among the 500 firms participating in the scheme.
The Mahindra Group plans to recruit 2,100 interns across various sectors, primarily from its auto and farm equipment divisions, with Mahindra Finance also hiring 100 interns.
However, a senior executive from a major firm suggested that the stipend amount is too low and should be increased to better support unemployed youth and attract more applicants. “Given that large companies are involved as partners in the scheme, it’s possible they may choose to raise the stipend amount themselves,” he noted.