Chennai, Aug 16 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president Manickam Tagore has said that the Central government has failed the country’s youth, citing the poor implementation of the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme (PMIS).
In a post on X, Tagore alleged that there was a wide gap between PM Modi’s Independence Day address from the Red Fort and the reality confronting young jobseekers across India.
Referring to the 40th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, the Congress leader said the findings exposed the shortcomings behind the government’s publicity surrounding the internship programme.
The scheme was launched with an outlay of Rs 63,000 crore and aimed to provide internship opportunities to one crore young people over five years. However, Tagore claimed that its implementation had largely stalled. Of the Rs 2,000 crore allocated for the 2024-25 financial year, only Rs 29.29 crore was spent, leaving nearly 98.5 per cent of the funds unutilised, he said.
While participating companies reportedly offered around 2.45 lakh internship opportunities, only 16,060 candidates joined the programme. Of those who enrolled, 53.6 per cent reportedly discontinued their internships midway.
Tagore said inadequate stipends and the absence of proper accommodation and transport facilities had particularly affected applicants from rural areas and women candidates. These shortcomings had made it difficult for many young people to participate in or complete the programme, he added.
The Congress leader accused the Union government of making ambitious announcements without ensuring their proper implementation or effective utilisation of the funds allocated for youth welfare initiatives.
He urged the Central government to stop using speeches from the Red Fort merely for publicity and warned it against playing with the future of young Indians. “The statistics themselves clearly reveal the government’s administrative failure. Mr Prime Minister, you cannot deceive the youth,” Tagore said.
–IANS
aal/dpb