Chennai, August 16
Tamil Nadu Congress president Manickam Tagore on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of failing India’s youth, alleging that the poor implementation of the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme exposed the gap between the government’s promises and its performance.
In a post on X, Tagore said Modi’s Independence Day address from the Red Fort was far removed from the difficulties confronting young people seeking employment and training opportunities.
Citing the 40th report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, he alleged that the findings had revealed serious shortcomings in the implementation of the internship programme, which was launched with considerable publicity.
The scheme, with a proposed outlay of ₹63,000 crore, aims to provide internships to one crore young people over five years. However, Tagore claimed that the programme had virtually stalled because of poor planning and inadequate execution.
Of the ₹2,000 crore allocated for the scheme during the 2024-25 financial year, only ₹29.29 crore was spent. Nearly 98.5 per cent of the allocation consequently remained unutilised, he said.
Although participating companies reportedly offered 2.45 lakh internship opportunities, only 16,060 candidates joined the programme. Tagore further claimed that 53.6 per cent of those who enrolled discontinued their internships midway.
He attributed the poor response and high dropout rate to inadequate stipends and the lack of accommodation and transportation facilities. Candidates from rural areas and women applicants were particularly affected by these shortcomings, he said.
Tagore accused the Union government of making grand announcements without establishing the necessary support systems to ensure that young people could benefit from its schemes.
He urged the government to stop treating the Red Fort address as a publicity exercise and focus instead on effectively implementing employment and training initiatives.
“The figures themselves reveal the government’s administrative failure. Mr Prime Minister, you cannot deceive the youth,” Tagore said.
