Parliament Question: Monthly Stipend under Prime Minister Internship Scheme

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4973 ANSWERED ON MONDAY THE 23rd MARCH, 2026 CHAITRA 02, 1948 (SAKA) MONTHLY STIPEND UNDER PRIME MINISTER INTERNSHIP SCHEME QUESTION 4973. Shri Babu Singh Kushwaha: Shri Devesh Shakya: Shri Neeraj Maurya: Will the Minister of CORPORATE AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) whether it has come to the notice of the Government that the monthly stipend of Rs. 25,000 prescribed under the Prime Minister Internship Scheme is considered significantly lower than the minimum wages and the cost of living in metropolitan areas, making it practically difficult for many youths to pursue internships in big cities, if so, the details thereof; (b) the total number of youths applied under the scheme across the country so far since the inception of the said scheme alongwith the number of youths out of them who have received internship offers from companies and the number of those who have actually joined the said internship; (c) the amount of funds sanctioned, released and spent/utilized till the Financial year 2025-26 out of the total funds of Rs. 10,831 crore allocated under the said scheme; (d) whether the location mismatch is becoming a major hurdle for the youth from rural areas of the country particularly from districts such as Etah, Kasganj, Etawah, Mainpuri, Auraiya, Kannauj and Jaunpur districts in Uttar Pradesh, if so, the details thereof; and (e) whether the Government proposes to amend the rules to provide training in local clusters and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS AND MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS [SHRI HARSH MALHOTRA] (a): The monthly financial assistance for PMIS Interns has been fixed at Rs. 9000 with effect from March 2026. Out of this, every month, the company releaseRs. 900 of the total monthly assistance to each intern from its CSR funds or own funds and the Government pay the share of Rs. 8100 to the interns’ Aadhaar seeded bank account through DBT. In case any Company wishes to provide monthly assistance over and above Rs. 900, it may do so from its own funds. (b): In the Round I 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 8700 interns joined their internship. In the Round II of the PM Internship Scheme Pilot Project, more than 4.55 lakh applications were received from over 2.14 lakh applicants. Partner companies have made over 83000 offers to over 71000 candidates and over 7300 interns joined their internship. (c): Details of amount sanctioned and utilized for the Prime Minister Internship Scheme in FY 2025-26 is placed at Annexure. (d): The analysis for non-acceptance of offers or low joining rates has been done for the entire country including Uttar Pradesh. On the basis of independent evaluation and feedback survey carried out by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, outbound calls made by the call center to the candidates and feedback received from various stakeholders, such as candidates, industry & industry associations and state governments, some of the reasons for low acceptance/joining which have been observed are given below: • Location is an important consideration and ideal travel distance indicated by candidates is between 5-10 km. • Internship period of 12 months is longer than that in normal skilling programs. • Some candidates are not interested in roles offered. (e): As per the existing approved guidelines for PMIS Pilot Project, companies may provide internship opportunities across the country in its own company or it may tie up with Companies/MSMEs in its forward and backward supply chain (e.g. Network Entities/Subsidiaries/Suppliers/Vendors, etc.) or Other Companies/Institutions in its Group. ******Annexure Annexure to Lok Sabha Q No. 4973 to be answered on 23.03.2026. Details of amount sanctioned and utilized for the Prime Minister Internship Scheme in FY 2025-26 as on 28.02.2026 is given below: (Amount in Rs. Crore) S. Financial Budget Allocation & Revised Actual Expenditure No. Year Estimates Estimates 1. 2025-26 10831.07* 526 87.46 *Rs. 10831.07 crore has been allocated to the Ministry for the main Scheme. However, the main scheme could not be commenced, and Pilot Project has been continued.