Tamil Nadu Congress leader Manickam Tagore criticises PM Internship Scheme

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore has criticised the Union government over the Prime Minister's Internship Scheme, stating that it fails to provide meaningful training to young people.

Application And Uptake

Writing on X, Mr. Tagore cited Ministry of Corporate Affairs data to show that applications dropped from 6.21 lakh in the first round to 4.55 lakh in the second and 3.50 lakh in the third. In the first round, only 8,760 candidates joined out of 1,27,508 available opportunities, giving an uptake of 6.9 percent. For the second round, 7,308 of 1,18,948 opportunities were taken up, while the third round saw 14,620 candidates join out of 1,54,366 slots. Completion rates were also low, with only 42.6 percent finishing the first round and 39.4 percent completing the second.

Scheme Changes And Tasks

Mr. Tagore alleged that the government diluted the programme by cutting the internship period from 12 months down to six to nine months, relaxing age rules, and raising the stipend to 9,000 rupees without fixing core issues. He claimed graduates in places like Lucknow and Ranchi were given tasks such as promoting digital payments at petrol stations or collecting bank loan repayments rather than receiving real professional training, accusing the BJP of poorly copying the Congress party's 'Pehli Naukri Pakki' poll promise.

Context

Government internship and skill development initiatives aim to bridge the gap between formal education and industry requirements by placing young job seekers in corporate settings. Political debates around such programmes frequently focus on whether they lead to long-term career growth or simply supply temporary labour to private companies.