New Delhi, July 23 -- The first phase of the Prime Minister's Internship Scheme saw 8700 interns joining, government data tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday showed. The scheme aims at providing 10 million internships over five years, with 1.25 lakh internships planned in first year alone. The information was provided in response to a question by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by minister of state for corporate affairs Harsh Malhotra. PMIS received over 6.21 lakh applications from 1.81 lakh candidates in its first round. 82,000 offers were made in response and around 28,000 students accepted those offers. But only 8,700 actually joined. This indicates a conversion rate of just over 10%. The minister's reply did not specify a reason for this. I...