Government’s New Internship Program for Top 500 Companies in India
The Indian government has announced a new internship program for the top 500 companies, as part of the Union Budget 2024-25. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the government will provide stipends for the internships, while companies will cover training costs through corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.
The program aims to benefit 100 million youth over the next five years. Interns will receive a monthly stipend of Rs 5,000 and a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000. Companies will cover training costs and 10 percent of the internship costs from CSR funds.
This announcement is part of a broader package aimed at boosting employment and enhancing India’s skilling capacity. In her budget speech, Sitharaman proposed creating job opportunities for about 4.1 crore youth over the next five years. To support this, the government has allocated Rs 2 lakh crore for employment initiatives and Rs 1.48 crore for skilling programs, aiming to skill 20 lakh youth over the same period.
Additionally, 1,000 industrial training institutes will be upgraded, and a one-time wage incentive will be provided to all first-time employees across sectors through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). Sitharaman emphasized that employment, skilling, MSMEs, and the middle class are key focus areas of this budget.
Doubts Revealed
Internship Program -: An internship program is a way for students or young people to work in a company for a short time to learn about the job and gain experience.
Top 500 Companies -: These are the biggest and most successful companies in India, based on their size, revenue, and performance.
Union Budget 2024-25 -: The Union Budget is a financial plan presented by the Indian government every year, showing how it will spend money and collect taxes.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman -: Nirmala Sitharaman is the person in charge of managing the money and finances of the Indian government.
Stipends -: A stipend is a small amount of money given to someone to help cover their expenses while they are learning or training.
CSR funds -: CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility. It means companies spend some of their money to help society, like on education or health.
100 million youth -: This means 100 million young people in India, which is a very large number of people.
Monthly stipend of Rs 5,000 -: This means that every month, the interns will get Rs 5,000 to help with their expenses.
One-time assistance of Rs 6,000 -: This is a single payment of Rs 6,000 given to the interns to help them with their initial costs.
Employment -: Employment means having a job or work that pays money.
Skilling -: Skilling means learning new skills or improving existing ones to get better jobs.
MSMEs -: MSMEs stands for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. These are small businesses that are very important for the economy.
Financial allocations -: This means the government is setting aside money for specific purposes or projects.
