The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is expected to introduce an amendment to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) law to include the proposal made during the recent Union Budget, of creating internships for young individuals by large corporations. The move will offer unique learning opportunity to over 10 million young individuals over the next five years, and improve their employment prospects as a result of associating with India’s top 500 companies.
Offering Internships under CSR
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in India has made significant strides in the social development sector. With a comprehensive legislation backing it, the companies across the country have engaged in various social welfare activities in the fields of education, skill development, healthcare, skill development, sanitation, environment conservation, animal welfare, among others.
Including internships in the list of sectors that organisations can conduct their CSR initiatives in, is a stroke of genius. There has been a significant employability gap in the Indian market, which has contributed significantly to the unemployment situation in the country. This can be addressed successfully through internships, as the individuals can gather employable skills and gain experience of working in an organisation. This in turn can provide opportunities to companies to hire more talented, skilled and experienced workforce.
The Indian government is preparing to amend the CSR framework to add internship programs to the list of activities that qualify as CSR spending. Under this new amendment, companies that fall within the eligibility criteria will be able to allocate a part of their CSR budgets to fund internships for young job-seekers, preparing them for future employment. This initiative comes at a critical time when concerns over job creation in India’s rapidly growing economy are high, and it is expected to have far-reaching implications for both businesses and young professionals.
According to official sources, the amendment is expected to incentivise companies to invest in youth training programs without affecting the computation of their profits. This is particularly important, given that CSR funds are a percentage of companies’ net profits over the previous three years, and therefore must be allocated strategically.
The internship scheme is part of a broader set of initiatives announced in latest Union Budget, when the government allocated Rs. 63,000 crore towards generating employment, skilling, and youth opportunities. This emphasis on job creation and skill development is said to be a response to the concerns of experts and opposition parties about India’s so-called “jobless growth”. This refers to the country’s impressive economic growth, while the prevalence of unemployment remains a significant concern.
