Lok Sabha Question No. 1893 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-11
Subject: Technical Internship Programme
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Jugal Kishore, Shri P C Mohan, Shri Nalin Soren, Dr. Hemang Joshi, Smt. Mahima Kumari Mewar, Smt. Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Shri Anoop Pradhan Valmiki, Shri Shashank Mani, Shri Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor, Smt. Shobhanaben Mahendrasinh Baraiya, Shri Balabhadra Majhi, Shri Chandra Prakash Joshi, Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1893

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 11.02.2026

## TECHNICAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

1893.   SHRI SHASHANK MANI:

SHRI BALABHADRA MAJHI:

SMT. MALA RAJYA LAXMI SHAH:

SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUBEY:

SHRI P C MOHAN:

SMT.  MAHIMA  KUMARI  MEWAR:

SHRI JASWANTSINH SUMANBHAI BHABHOR:

SMT. SHOBHANABEN MAHENDRASINH BARAIYA:

SHRI JUGAL KISHORE:

DR. HEMANG JOSHI:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI: SHRI ANOOP PRADHAN VALMIKI: SHRI

NALIN SOREN:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  launched  or  proposed  a  Technical  Internship  Programme  to strengthen industry-ready skills among students and young professionals in emerging technology domains especially in Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Nabarangpur Lok Sabha Constituency in Odisha, students of engineering and diploma college in Dahod, Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand;
- (b) if so, the objectives, eligibility criteria, coverage, financial/institutional framework and scope of the Programme especially PVTGs of Nabarangpur Lok Sabha Constituency in Odisha;
- (c) the technical domains and sectors proposed to be covered under the Programme such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, cyber security, electronics manufacturing and related areas and the arrangements made  to ensure participation of youth including  Nabarangpur  Lok  Sabha Constituency in Odisha, Karnataka and Bengaluru;
- (d) the details of the timeline envisaged for its phased rollout and whether priority is proposed to be  accorded  to  aspirational  districts,  tribal-dominated  regions  and  PVTG-dominated  areas including Nabarangpur;
- (e) the number of internships/seats proposed to be offered annually under the Programme, Statewise, including Karnataka;
- (f) whether start-ups and MSMEs are proposed to be included as host organisations for interns and if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) the roadmap for the expansion of IT Skill centres under 'Digital India' in Dahod?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

(a) to (g): The Government is implementing various initiatives under the Digital India Programme to promote capacity building, skilling, internships, and training aimed at developing industry-ready skills among students and young professionals in emerging technology domains across the country, including  aspirational  districts,  tribal-dominated  regions,  and  Union  Territories,  through  its organisations and supported institutions.

The National e-Governance Division (NeGD) under the Digital India Corporation (a section 8 notfor-profit company of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), has introduced the Technical  Internship  Programme  in  2025.  The  main  objective  of  the  Technical  Internship Programme is to offer students a valuable platform to gain practical experience in a real-world, professional environment.

Students and young professionals belonging to the General, Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST), including Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) throughout the country can derive direct benefit from the program by applying online at the NeGD website- https://negd.gov.in/ . The details of the programme are as under:

- Technical interns will be hired bi-annually i.e., January and July.
- The duration of the internship is for six (06) months only.
- Technical Interns will receive a stipend of Rs. 20,000/- per month after the completion of 30 days.

The  Programme  broadly  cover  emerging  technology  domains  such  as  Artificial  Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Engineering & Analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), software development, DevOps & automation, cybersecurity, databases, and cloud-based digital infrastructure and other digital technologies, aligned with Digital India initiatives. The internship is open to eligible youth across  the  country  through  an  online  and  transparent  application  process,  ensuring  inclusive participation.

Besides,  the  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (MeitY)  is  also  promoting skilling and capacity building through the following initiatives aimed at developing industry-ready manpower in emerging and advanced technology domains across the country:

- National  Institute  of  Electronics  &  Information  Technology  (NIELIT), an  autonomous scientific society under MeitY, promotes education, training and research in Electronics, IT and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), semiconductors, drone technology, solar  energy  and  cyber  security.  Currently,  NIELIT  operates  56  of  its  own  Centres  and  a nationwide  network  of  over  700 Accredited Training  Partners,  as  well  as  more  than  9,000 facilitation Centres for conducting skill development and capacity building activities in IECT areas. Further, in the state of Gujarat, NIELIT has presence through 234 Facilitation Centres for the proliferation of Digital Literacy Courses (DLC) across the state, out of this 10 are located in the Dahod district.
- FutureSkills PRIME: To bridge the industry skill gap, MeitY has initiated a programme titled 'FutureSkills PRIME' jointly with National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM)  aimed  at  re-skilling/up-skilling  of  candidate  in  new/emerging  technologies. Under the FutureSkills Prime program, there are over 500+ courses & 2000+ digital fluency pathways offered on the platform.
- 'Work Based Learning (WBL)' programme is  launched  by  the  Government  of  India  to strengthen and empower  SC/ST/Women/EWS  Graduates/Postgraduates through MeitY Institutions  (i.e.  CERT-IN,  C-DAC,  NIELIT,  STQC,  CMET,  ERNET,  and  SAMEER). The WBL  project  provides  an  opportunity  for  candidates  to  get  exposed  to  various  Design/ Developmental/ Research activities being carried out by Institutions under the aegis of MeitY. Under the project, so far, 3526 candidates are enrolled out of which 2338 candidates are trained. *****