‘Internship’ in top 500 companies

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the latest Union Budget that the central government would initiate a scheme offering internship opportunities to the youth within the top 500 companies. The MCA will collaborate with these companies to channel resources towards industrial skills training.

Under the scheme, interns will receive a monthly stipend of `5,000, along with a one-time assistance of `6,000. The cost of training these interns will be covered by the companies through their CSR activities. Participation in this scheme is voluntary for companies.

Internship will be facilitated through suppliers or value chain partners of the top 500 companies. Unlike apprenticeship programmes, companies will not be obligated to offer permanent positions to the interns.

The scheme’s primary aim is to incentivise companies to engage individuals who might not otherwise be considered for employment without the subsidy. The government will fund 90 per cent (`4500) of the internship allowances, with companies contributing the remaining 10 per cent (`500) and absorbing the training costs internally.

Finance Secretary TV Somanathan explained that while the government is capable of established educational institutions and hiring educators for academic subjects, it faces challenges in delivering training tailored to specific industry-required skills. The new internship scheme, he explained, is designed to bridge the skills gap between education and industry demands.

In drafting the final scheme, the MCA plans to implement checks and balances to ensure transparency.

The Companies Act mandates corporate social responsibility as a statutory obligation in India, making it one of the few countries to enforce such a requirement. Globally, most nations adopt a voluntary approach to CSR spending, although countries like Norway and Sweden, which currently have voluntary CSR policies, initially began with mandatory provisions.

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