Internship Scheme In Budget 2024 — A Refined Version Of Rahul Gandhi’s Similar 'Khatakhat' Promise?

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an all-new Internship Scheme for students in Union Budget 2024-25.

The scheme provides for internships to one crore youth in the top 500 companies with an allowance of Rs 5,000 per month. Plus, it also provides for a one-time assistance of Rs 6,000.

The youth will gain exposure for 12 months to real-life business environments, varied professions, and employment opportunities.

At least on the face of it, it appears similar to what Rahul Gandhi had said in the election rallies in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections. In his rallies, Rahul Gandhi stressed that children from rich families intern in 'big companies' before they start their jobs.

Under its ‘Pehli Naukri Pakki’, Congress had promised a one-year apprenticeship with a 'top company' to every diploma holder or college graduate below the age of 25 along with Rs 1 Lakh annual stipend.

While similar internship schemes are already in place in various states, like Uttarakhand, what stands out is the language of that the Finance Minister used and the timing of the announcement, which comes right after the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

First, the minister’s speech specifically says that internships will be in the top 500 companies, which is very similar to what Rahul Gandhi had said.

Second, the timing of the announcement is important, as this is the first comprehensive internship scheme at a national level. The fact that it comes after a decade of being in power signals that it may be due to the normalising of ‘Khatakhat’ freebie politics, something which the BJP had till now shied away from.

Based on these two things, it is a legitimate question to ask if this scheme is a counter to Congress' apprenticeship programme/guarantee.

Moreover, the overall budget suggests that the government acknowledges there are real worries about training, skilling, and employment translating into frustration among the youth, something that the opposition has been pointing to for years.

Even if this internship scheme appears to be fulfilling Congress’ poll promise, it is a better and rationalised version of Congress’ Khatakhat variety.

The allowance is pegged at Rs 5,000 on a monthly basis rather than lump sum Rs 1 lakh annually, as was promised by Rahul Gandhi.

Further, Sitharaman also announced an educational loan scheme under which the government will provide loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to 1 lakh students every year for higher education in domestic institutions with an interest subvention of 3 per cent of the loan amount. Was this too a counter to Congress' Khatakhat direct money transfers to students, albeit a rationalised one?

The government seems to have gone big on youth employment and skilling in this budget — ‘Youth’ also being one of the four different "castes" — poor, women, youth, and farmer (which were mentioned in the interim budget too). The budget theme, as stated by the minister, is also based on the following — employment, skilling, MSMEs, and middle class.

Consequently, Sitharaman announced a package of five schemes to facilitate employment and skilling. In all, Rs 2 lakh crore for education, employment, and skilling.

The package has been divided into three sections with five schemes. These include:

- three schemes under the employment linked incentive (ELI) by the way of benefits to employers and employees in Employees' Provident Fund Organisation

- a new centrally-sponsored scheme for skilling which includes setting up 1,000 industrial training institutes in hub and spoke arrangements with outcome orientation, and

- the aforementioned internship scheme.

Overall, the government appears to have borrowed from the opposition’s ideas, which were poorly framed, but has refined them to avoid 'Khatakhat' addiction.