‘Malaise’ has plagued PM’s apprenticeship scheme: Congress

The Congress on Saturday, 26 July, alleged that "malaise" has plagued the PM's apprenticeship scheme, claiming that the hallmark of the Modi government has been to make grand announcements with "zero" follow through. Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh cited a media report that claimed a decline in offers and acceptance rate in the PM Internship Scheme.

"We had previously flagged that the Prime Minister Internship Scheme (PMIS) – inspired by Congress' 2024 Lok Sabha campaign guarantee of ‘Pehli Naukri Pakki’, a year-long apprenticeship for all graduates and diploma-bearers – is being botched by a government with no administrative talent," Ramesh alleged in a post on X.

In May, Ramesh claimed that Modi government's flagship PMIS launched in October 2024 was off to a "stuttering start" with a low turnout and high attrition.

"It now emerges that the same malaise continues to plague this scheme many months on – 1.18 lakh internship opportunities were opened through PMIS in round two, but only 71,458 offers were made. This is a drop of 13 per cent compared to round one when 82,077 roles were on offer," Ramesh claimed.

Till 17 July, he further claimed, just 22,584 of the 71,458 offers were accepted by the candidates – less than the 28,000 students who accepted the internship in round one.

"In round one, only 8,725 (7 per cent) of the 28,000 students who accepted the internship offers actually joined the company they were placed at. We are yet to find out how many joined the internship in this round," Ramesh said.

"The funds allocated under this scheme remain constantly under-utilised and the internships actually completed under this programme are minimal – a far cry from the government's stated goal of 1 crore internships in the next five years," the Congress leader added.

Ramesh also claimed that the UPA government launched and successfully implemented some of the most complex and elaborate government programmes in the world – the MGNREGA, the Food Security Bill, and Right to Education.

"This government's hallmark has been to make grand announcements with zero follow through – simply because it runs on the whims and fancies of one man," he alleged.