Business: Banks are considering hiring graduates below the age of 25 in a month as 'apprentices'. Sunil Mehta, chief executive of industry lobby group Indian Banks Association, told PTI on Friday that banks will pay an honorarium of Rs 5,000 per month to such interns, who will be trained in specific skills during their tenure.

The step was taken after the budget announcement by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

This step has been taken after the budget announcement of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, under which the government is aiming to provide training (internship) to one crore youth in the top 500 companies in the next five years.

The age of the candidate should be between 21-25 years

Explaining the role of banks in implementing the scheme, Sunil Mehta said, "There are many areas where we do not need skilled manpower, for example marketing, recovery. We can train them in those areas and they can create employment for themselves." Mehta said that the candidate applying for 'apprentice' should be between 21-25 years of age and should be a graduate, should not be a taxpayer and should not have a degree from top institutes like IIT or IIM.

Some apprentices will be absorbed as bank employees- Sunil Mehta

Sunil Mehta also indicated that such interns, who can be hired for up to 12 months, will also be hired in other areas like business correspondents to take banking services to the last mile. Sunil Mehta said that such candidates will not 'disappear' after working in banks, but it is also likely that some of them will be absorbed as employees. Mehta said that IBA had a meeting with the Secretary of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs on Thursday regarding the implementation of the scheme. He said that it can be implemented within a month.

Although he did not say how many apprentices the banks would hire, he said that all banks would participate in this initiative. He said that the government's support would be fully provided for the implementation of the scheme, and this assurance has been given.