Abhijit Roy
The Center’s ambitious Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme has failed to attract the majority of unemployed youth. This is supported by official data submitted to Parliament. Harsh Malhotra, Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, informed the Lok Sabha that just 33,300 youth accepted internships during the first two rounds. Of these, 6,618 dropped out in the middle. Companies provided 82,000 internships in the first phase and 83,000 in the second phase.
It’s worth mentioning that the central government unveiled this initiative with great hoopla during the last Lok Sabha elections. Interns will receive a one-time payment of ₹6,000, as well as a 12-month allowance of ₹5,000. The government declared that this initiative would train 10 million young people to become employable over a five-year period.
However, the government’s implementation results for the first two years are clearly dismal. The reason is essential. The unemployment crisis will not be solved with such a salve. This necessitates a major revolution in economic thought. Sustained investment in the actual economy, including production and distribution, as well as human development, must be ensured. India’s unemployment rate is mostly caused by a lack of investment in critical areas. This problem arose unexpectedly during the recent Lok Sabha elections. As a result, the Narendra Modi government attempted to communicate a message of solution through this plan. However, without the commitment to face the underlying issues, such messages are ineffective.
(Author is a Jamshedpur based columnist. Views expressed are personal.)
