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Internship scheme sparks row, Congress says govt ‘copied’ key manifesto promise
The proposed Right to Apprenticeship Act was one of the key highlights of the Congress manifesto
The Congress on Tuesday claimed that finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has a taken a leaf out of the Opposition party’s key poll promise of a Right to Apprenticeship Act , after she said in her budget speech on Tuesday that the government would launch an internship scheme for youth in 500 top companies. The scheme will cover 10 million young people over five years, she added.
“They will gain exposure for 12 months to real-life business environment, varied professions and employment opportunities. An internship allowance of ₹5,000 per month along with a one-time assistance of ₹6,000 will be provided. Companies will be expected to bear the training cost and 10% of the internship cost from their CSR funds,” Sitharaman said.
But the Congress was quick to point out that the idea seems to have been borrowed from its manifesto.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted on X: “The Finance Minister has taken a leaf out of the INC’s Nyay Patra 2024, with its internship program clearly modelled on the INC’s proposed Apprenticeship Program that was called Pehli Naukri Pakki.”
Ramesh, however, criticised the NDA’s plan and said, “In their trademark style, the scheme has been designed to grab headlines, with arbitrary targets (10 million internships) rather than a programmatic guarantee for all diploma holders and graduates, like the Indian National Congress had envisioned.”
In its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the main opposition party said: “Congress guarantees a new Right to Apprenticeship Act to provide a one-year apprenticeship with a private or a public sector company to every diploma holder or college graduate below the age of 25. Apprentices will get ₹1 lakh a year. The apprenticeship will impart skills, enhance employability and provide full-time job opportunities for millions of youth.”
The proposed Right to Apprenticeship Act was one of the key highlights of the Congress manifesto and it was seen as an extension of the host of rights-based laws that were enacted during the UPA era.
The Congress also claimed that the Budget announcement to scrap the angel tax and the employment-linked incentive were also lifted from the Congress manifesto. Former Union minister P Chidambaram posted on X, “I was pleased to hear that the FM will abolish the Angel Tax. Congress has pleaded for the abolition for many years and most recently in the Congress Manifesto on page 31.”
To be sure, the angel tax, imposed on funds raised by startups from angel investors was introduced in 2012 by the UPA government.
In her speech, Sitharaman announced that “to bolster the Indian start-up eco-system, boost the entrepreneurial spirit and support innovation, I propose to abolish the so-called angel tax for all classes of investors.”
According to the IT laws, a startup or an unlisted company has to pay a part of its funding from angel investors as a tax (angel tax) if the total investment value of a firm is more than its Fair Market Value.
The excess amount is seen as “income from other sources”, which is taxable.
HT reached out to the government officials for a comment but did not receive a response immediately.
