New Delhi: The Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme (PMIS), one of the Narendra Modi government’s flagship initiatives to make the youth job-ready through hands-on experience in top companies, is likely to go through a third pilot round, after poor response from candidates in the first two phases, ThePrint has learnt. The move is likely to delay a full-scale rollout, originally expected by early 2026.
The pilot phase was designed to test the scheme before nationwide implementation, but low acceptance and high dropout rates have forced authorities to revisit key features.
“The third round of the pilot phase is likely to introduce flexible internship duration, replacing the current fixed 12-month tenure and the monthly stipend is also likely to be revised upwards,” a senior government official told ThePrint, on the condition of anonymity.
Other changes under consideration include revising the eligible age limit for candidates, currently capped at 21 to 24 years, to encourage higher participation.
The third round will allow the government to gauge candidate response, which would then help shape the final guidelines, the official said. “We are constantly course correcting as per the feedback received from third-party concurrent studies, apart from candidates and participating companies from the ground. Another pilot round with key changes would help in formulating the final scheme guidelines.”
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Low acceptance, high attrition
ThePrint had reported in December 2025 that the PMIS faced low acceptance and high attrition rates in its pilot phase. Government data presented in Parliament showed that only 30 percent—16,060 out of 52,600 candidates—who accepted internship offers actually joined their assigned companies.
Attrition emerged as an even bigger concern. A total of 6,618 interns—nearly 41 percent—quit midway without completing the one-year internship. Of these, 4,565 were from the first round and 2,053 were from the second.
In its parliamentary reply, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs cited several reasons for the poor response, including location constraints (with many candidates unwilling to travel beyond 5–10 km), the long duration of the internship, and lack of interest in the roles offered.
ThePrint had also reported last year that mundane tasks, like data entry and filing—rather than meaningful project work—also contributed to early exits, prompting calls for improving the quality of internship assignments in the next phase.
“While there may be multiple reasons, another factor is the absence of any assurance of a permanent or full-time job post completion of internship, which discourages candidates from committing for a year,” an industry source closely associated with the scheme told ThePrint.
However, according to the official quoted above, the government cannot mandate companies to hire PMIS candidates in a full-time role. “We do not impose anything on the companies; they are free to hire anyone they want,” the official said.
The data released by the government in December showed that only 95 candidates across the two pilot rounds received full-time job offers from participating companies. According to the official, this number is now gradually increasing.
Launched in October 2024, the first pilot round of the PMIS saw 82,000 internship offers, but only around 8,760 candidates joined.
The second round that started in January 2025 again drew a tepid response, with only about 7,300 interns ultimately joining despite tens of thousands of offers and initial acceptances.
In the pilot phase, interns are engaged for 12 months and receive a one-time grant of Rs 6,000 from the central government, along with a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000—Rs 4,500 from the government and Rs 500 from employers, largely through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.
The PMIS is open to candidates aged 21 to 24, who can apply through a dedicated online portal or mobile application. The scheme aims to improve employability by offering real-world corporate exposure along with academic learning.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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