CA Firms May Soon Accept Interns Under PM Internship Scheme: ICAI

Chartered Accountant (CA) firms are likely to start accepting interns under the Pradhan Mantri Internship Scheme (PMIS) soon. 

“Under the scheme, an intern can get at least ₹9,000 per month, out of which ₹8,100 is provided by the government and the remaining ₹900 or even more can be provided by CA Firms from a non-Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund. 

There is agreement on this issue with the government,” ICAI President Prasanna Kumar D told businessline. Since the PMIS guidelines prescribe payment of the company’s contribution through the CSR fund, and CA firms do not have that fund, there was a technical issue. Now that has been resolved.

As part of Budget 2024-25, PMIS aims to provide internship opportunities to 1 crore youth across the top 500 companies over 5 years. Under the scheme, the company is expected to provide the person with actual working experience in a skill in which the company is directly involved. At least half of the internship period would be spent in the actual work/ real-life business environment.

On the issue of another budget announcement, introduction of PM Mitra, ICAI President said: “We have given our inputs to the government. We expect the scheme will see launch soon as early as next month,” he said. Earlier, the institute had said that it was working on a 9-month curriculum, with theoretical and practical training provided over the same period. With a nationwide network of 5 Regional Councils and 186 branches, including a strong footprint in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, the Institute offers an established last-mile professional infrastructure precisely where MSMEs are densely located.

This enables delivery of structured compliance and advisory support without geographical or cost barriers that often restrict smaller enterprises from accessing quality professional services. The primary objectives of these Corporate Mitras courses are to create a pool of industry-ready Corporate Mitras with strong practical knowledge. It will also enable MSMEs to access affordable and effective compliance and advisory support.