Announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Union Budget, the Prime Minister Internship Scheme, which aims to provide internship opportunities to 1 crore youth of the country, was launched on October 3.
From October 12, aspirants in the age-group of 21-24 years can apply for internship, where they will be able to engage with the country's top 500 companies across diverse sectors for next five years.
Guided by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this initiative marks a monumental stride in equipping India's youth with the necessary skills in varied domains to thrive in a rapidly evolving and challenging global economy. The programme will benefit around 30 lakh youngsters in the first two years, followed by another 70 lakh in the next three years. The selected candidates will receive a monthly allowance of₹5,000 per month (₹60,000 for full year) and a one-time assistance of ₹6,000. The Centre will bear 90% of the expenditure to be incurred and for this purpose, a sum of ₹63,000 crore has been allocated in the Union Budget. This is aimed at giving impetus to the ambitious scheme and larger participation of private as well as the public sector in skilling, up-skilling and eventually employment generation for the country's youth.
Creating a world-class skilled workforce for all sectors
As far as the Oil & Gas Sector goes, we reckon that with 50% of its population below the age of 25 years, India's demographic advantage has started paying rich dividends in certain services sectors. Almost all International Oil Companies (IOCs) and service providers have either set up or are planning to have an Indian establishment to support their global operation, in fields like design, engineering, procurement, accounting, IT services and AI, through back-office in India. We admire these companies for imparting skills commensurate to the requirements. We now see similar trends with MNCs from other sectors too, skilling the youth to do their tasks from their GCC locations in India.
The reasons for this mega shift to India are not hard to fathom - We are currently producing 1-1.5 million engineers every year and a large majority of them come with good aptitude and intellectual capabilities. Thus, the quality of manpower is good and it comes at 1/6th the cost of similar output in developed countries.
Skilling 'Read & Write' abled youth
While India has proved its mettle in the arena of back office and IT services, as mentioned in foregoing, it is time to replicate the success in the crucial area of manufacturing and other services too. The first signs are already evident in areas like semiconductors and production of high-end mobile phones. The rapid progress in the area of renewable energy, especially in solar and wind energy, too is creating huge employment opportunities in India and abroad.
While the tremendous surge in demand for segments that focus on skill acquisition predicated on higher education is obvious, there is also an unprecedented opportunity for a large part of the demography that is not so focused on higher education but gets skilled to perform jobs that are primarily repetitive and require good familiarity with processes. With a minimum qualification of 'Read and Write' ability, this scheme can focus on such workforce as well.
Over to India Inc Now
The PM Internship Scheme is a step in the right direction and has all the ingredients to make our youth future-ready with necessary skills and seize emerging opportunities. The scheme, however, can be successful only when all companies, including private and public, implement the provisions in letter and spirit. An internship framework should have a substantial component of real work- life situation training to follow the principle of "learning through doing".
Each trainee must be imparted quality training, monitored for his or her progress through the year-long programme, and issued a certificate mentioning a test-based proficiency level that creates immense value in the job market. Companies could also mandate such certification while requiring a skilled workforce through their service providers/ contractors for project works and intermittent services.
Importantly, while the 500 large companies can afford to train the workforce with good skills, medium-sized companies may be asked to join this initiative later. Hence, it is imperative for large companies to train and create a pool of skilled workforce that can be funneled for other large, mid and small sized companies in India and abroad.
(The author is Chairman and CEO of ONGC)
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com)
From October 12, aspirants in the age-group of 21-24 years can apply for internship, where they will be able to engage with the country's top 500 companies across diverse sectors for next five years.
Guided by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this initiative marks a monumental stride in equipping India's youth with the necessary skills in varied domains to thrive in a rapidly evolving and challenging global economy. The programme will benefit around 30 lakh youngsters in the first two years, followed by another 70 lakh in the next three years. The selected candidates will receive a monthly allowance of₹5,000 per month (₹60,000 for full year) and a one-time assistance of ₹6,000. The Centre will bear 90% of the expenditure to be incurred and for this purpose, a sum of ₹63,000 crore has been allocated in the Union Budget. This is aimed at giving impetus to the ambitious scheme and larger participation of private as well as the public sector in skilling, up-skilling and eventually employment generation for the country's youth.
Creating a world-class skilled workforce for all sectors
As far as the Oil & Gas Sector goes, we reckon that with 50% of its population below the age of 25 years, India's demographic advantage has started paying rich dividends in certain services sectors. Almost all International Oil Companies (IOCs) and service providers have either set up or are planning to have an Indian establishment to support their global operation, in fields like design, engineering, procurement, accounting, IT services and AI, through back-office in India. We admire these companies for imparting skills commensurate to the requirements. We now see similar trends with MNCs from other sectors too, skilling the youth to do their tasks from their GCC locations in India.
The reasons for this mega shift to India are not hard to fathom - We are currently producing 1-1.5 million engineers every year and a large majority of them come with good aptitude and intellectual capabilities. Thus, the quality of manpower is good and it comes at 1/6th the cost of similar output in developed countries.
Skilling 'Read & Write' abled youth
While India has proved its mettle in the arena of back office and IT services, as mentioned in foregoing, it is time to replicate the success in the crucial area of manufacturing and other services too. The first signs are already evident in areas like semiconductors and production of high-end mobile phones. The rapid progress in the area of renewable energy, especially in solar and wind energy, too is creating huge employment opportunities in India and abroad.
While the tremendous surge in demand for segments that focus on skill acquisition predicated on higher education is obvious, there is also an unprecedented opportunity for a large part of the demography that is not so focused on higher education but gets skilled to perform jobs that are primarily repetitive and require good familiarity with processes. With a minimum qualification of 'Read and Write' ability, this scheme can focus on such workforce as well.
Over to India Inc Now
The PM Internship Scheme is a step in the right direction and has all the ingredients to make our youth future-ready with necessary skills and seize emerging opportunities. The scheme, however, can be successful only when all companies, including private and public, implement the provisions in letter and spirit. An internship framework should have a substantial component of real work- life situation training to follow the principle of "learning through doing".
Each trainee must be imparted quality training, monitored for his or her progress through the year-long programme, and issued a certificate mentioning a test-based proficiency level that creates immense value in the job market. Companies could also mandate such certification while requiring a skilled workforce through their service providers/ contractors for project works and intermittent services.
Importantly, while the 500 large companies can afford to train the workforce with good skills, medium-sized companies may be asked to join this initiative later. Hence, it is imperative for large companies to train and create a pool of skilled workforce that can be funneled for other large, mid and small sized companies in India and abroad.
(The author is Chairman and CEO of ONGC)
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com)
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