New Delhi: In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of a new scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PM-VBRY), which he said would create employment opportunities for 3.5 crore young Indians. Budgeted with Rs 1 lakh crore, the scheme will entail a one-time incentive of Rs 15,000 to those who get their first job in the private sector.
“On this Independence Day, we are starting a new scheme worth Rs 1 lakh crore for the youth of this country,” the Prime Minister said from the ramparts of the Red Fort. Adding, “From today, Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana is starting under which first-time employees in the private sector would get Rs 15,000 from the government.”
In July, the Union Cabinet gave its approval to an Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme to support employment generation. The same scheme has now been officially launched under the banner of PM-VBRY.
The Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana aims to incentivise creation of more than 3.5 crore jobs in the country over a period of two years ending 31 July 2027. The scheme is applicable to first-time private sector employees drawing a salary of up to Rs 1 lakh per month and registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
The incentive of Rs 15,000 will be released in two instalments, the first after six months of service and the second after completion of 12 months of service along with completion of a financial literacy programme.
The scheme also incentivises employers with up to Rs 3,000 per month for two years for each additional hire on a sustained basis for six months. For the manufacturing sector, the scheme is extended for another two years.
Employers with 50 or fewer employees need to hire two additional employees per month on a sustained basis for at least six months to be eligible for this scheme, while those with more than 50 employees need to hire five additional employees on a sustained basis for the same period.
PM’s Internship Scheme (PMIS)
PM-VBRY is not the Modi government’s first policy attempt at incentivising employees and employers to address shortage of jobs in the country.
Launched in October 2024, the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme (PMIS) aims to provide internships to 1 crore young Indians till 2029.
It entitles interns to a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000 to be shared by companies (Rs 500 via CSR fund) and the government (Rs 4,500).
There is also a one-time grant of Rs 6,000 for interns to be borne by the government.
However, as ThePrint analysed and reported earlier, the scheme received a lukewarm response from aspirants during the first two rounds of the pilot phase.
In round 1, only 8,725 candidates showed up for the internships offered to them when 82,077 offers were extended out of 1.27 lakh opportunities.
In round 2, rollout of offers declined to 71,458 out of 1.18 lakh internship opportunities but only 22,584 candidates accepted it. Data for candidates who ended up joining the internship in this round is yet to be released.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: More firms, but decline in offers, acceptance rate—Modi govt data on PM Internship Scheme 2nd round