Union Finance Minister introduced an internship scheme to provide opportunities to 1 crore youth in the top 500 companies in five years. It offers 12 months of real-time business environment exposure to the candidates with an allowance of INR 5000 per month.
Companies are expected to bear the training cost and 10% of the internship cost from their CSR funds.
Further for skilling of youths to generate employment opportunities, Nirmala Sitharaman proposed INR 1.48 crore to skill 20 lakh youth over the next five years.
She mentioned that 1,000 industrial training institutes will be upgraded.
Speaking on Union Budget 2024-25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “In this Budget, the government has announced ‘Employment Linked Incentive scheme. This will help generate many employment opportunities.”
“Under this scheme, the government will give the first salary to those who are newly entering the workforce. Youth from villages will be able to work in the country’s top companies under the apprenticeship program.”
India’s Youth Unemployment
According to the India Employment Report 2024, 83% of unemployed Indians are youth. Despite a surge in higher education enrollments, the quality of education remains a significant concern.
Critics argue that outdated curricula in Indian colleges fail to meet industry requirements, creating a big gap between what students learn and the skills they need for the job market.
Back in 2015, esteemed scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee CNR Rao stated that 90% of Indian universities have outdated curricula, contributing to the country’s absence from the top 100 global universities list.
