New Delhi: The Center spent 5% of the funds allocated under the flagship package for employment and skills in FY 2025-26, raising concerns over the incentive structure, targeting and implementation of the programme.The special package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Budget 2024-25 included an internship scheme, upgradation of 1,000 government-run Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), and employment generation schemes to skill the youth and prepare them for jobs. The program aimed to benefit approximately 41 million youth at a cost of Rs 2 lakh crore over a period of five years.The latest budget data released on Sunday shows that the government spent about Rs 1,730 crore on the three components of the program in FY26, out of the total Rs 33,830 crore allocated in the 2024-25 budget.With the internship scheme having only two pilots, the Center spent Rs 526 crore of the Rs 10,800 crore allocated during FY26.As the scheme is being finalized and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs will soon seek Cabinet approval, the funding of the scheme is estimated at Rs 4,788 crore in 2026-27.In the first phase of the internship scheme, about 6.2 lakh applications were received against about 1.3 lakh internship opportunities. While companies made more than 82,000 offers, only 28,000 were accepted.In the second round, more than 83,000 offers were made against 1.2 lakh internship opportunities, but about 24,600 were accepted.