The industries and the academia are waiting for the details of the internship programme announced in the Union Budget by Finance Minister Nirmal Sitharaman recently. Hailing the thought process behind the scheme, National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) president Debjani Ghosh, and chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Roorkee and IIT Hyderabad B.V.R. Mohan Reddy said it will be a win-win situation for both the industries and the academia. They were talking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the convocation ceremony of IIT Roorkee on Saturday.
Ms. Ghosh said the Budget focuses on sustainable development and growth along with jobs, skills and employment. “The details of the internship programme is not yet out. But the thought process of more internships with companies make tremendous sense,” she said.
The NASSCOM president added that companies usually have to invest training of at least six months or a year to get a fresher to start contributing to a business. “Internship is a way to address it and it makes sense for companies and for students. Both industry and academia will embrace it. It is a win-win for everyone,” she said.
The Budget announcement says that the government will bear a large part of the cost and companies will have to fund 10% from their corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund. “It is making it very easy for the companies. I think this is going to work. Internships and apprenticeships are strategic tools of up-levelling skills and building the right talent for the company,” she said.
Mr. Reddy, meanwhile, said though the scheme is not new as in the recent past NASSCOM had sectoral skill councils for IT and IT-enabled services primarily for driving apprenticeship. “It helped in creating awareness level,” he said.
He, however, added that there is some confusion on the nature of the announcement that whether it is an apprenticeship scheme or an internship scheme. “We have to wait and see. Irrespective of what it is, it is a win-win situation for all,” he said. “If the government says there will be one crore internees in five years in 500 companies, an average 4,000 internees should join a company every year. We have to find some ways on how this can be managed or the number of companies have to be expanded,” Mr. Reddy said and added that an industry will get 12 months to observe a person before absorbing him or her. “The details are yet to be worked out,” he said.
