New Delhi, March 23 Factors such as location, longer internship duration, and lack of interest in the offered roles are among the reasons why many candidates are not accepting the offers made under the Prime Minister Internship Scheme (PMIS), according to the government.
In the first and second rounds of the scheme, over 16,000 interns joined their internships, while the total number of offers made was more than 1.65 lakh.
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, which is implementing the scheme, has conducted an analysis for the entire country regarding the non-acceptance of offers or low joining rates.
Some of the reasons for the low acceptance of the offers include location, the internship period, and the fact that some candidates are not interested in the offered roles.
"Location is an important consideration, and the ideal travel distance indicated by candidates is between 5-10 km... The internship period of 12 months is longer than that in regular skill development programs," Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Harsh Malhotra informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.
These observations are based on independent evaluations and feedback surveys conducted by the ministry, outbound calls made by the call center to the candidates, and feedback received from various stakeholders, including candidates, industry, industry associations, and state governments.
The monthly financial assistance for the interns under the scheme has been fixed at INR 9,000, effective from March. Of the total amount, the company concerned provides INR 900 from its CSR or own funds, while the government provides the remaining INR 8,100. Companies can also provide additional funds to the interns from their own resources if they wish.
"In the first round of the PM Internship Scheme pilot project, more than 6.21 lakh applications were received from about 1.81 lakh candidates. Partner companies made over 82,000 internship offers to over 60,000 candidates, and over 8,700 interns joined their internships."
"In the second round of the PM Internship Scheme pilot project, more than 4.55 lakh applications were received from over 2.14 lakh applicants. Partner companies made over 83,000 offers to over 71,000 candidates, and over 7,300 interns joined their internships," Malhotra said.