It was the summer of 2025. The advertisements about the Narendra Modi government’s new internship scheme were splashed across newspapers, TV channels and social media. Like lakhs of others, P Adarsh*, 22, noticed them from his hometown Bhilai in Chhattisgarh. After finishing his degree in agricultural engineering a while ago, Adarsh was hunting for an internship that could sharpen his skills, pay some money, and still leave him evenings to prepare for a bank job exam.
So he applied through the Prime Minister’s Internship Scheme (PMIS) portal that was advertised, specifying his preferences, and got an email saying he had been selected for an internship. It was at a PSU, Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), in state capital Raipur.