The Congress on Friday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of free online coaching for competitive exam aspirants, calling it an “accountability-evading gimmick” and questioning the government’s ability to implement the scheme effectively.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had highlighted the growing coaching industry and its impact on public education at the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event in Kota, Rajasthan, on June 17.
"He had raised one of the most important issues in education today -- that an extractive coaching industry has supplanted the public education system and that Indian families are now spending 2.5 times more on coaching centres than the government of India invests in education," Ramesh said on X.
Ramesh alleged that Gandhi’s remarks added to public pressure on the government, prompting Modi to announce free online coaching in his Independence Day address.
"It was this disclosure that forced the Prime Minister -- in a desperate attempt to escape growing public pressure -- to announce free online coaching for students on 15th August. But his government's track record hardly inspires any confidence," he said.
Ramesh cited the existing Free Coaching scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, saying it had fallen short of its enrolment target for three consecutive years.
He said that the ministry had set a target of enrolling 10,500 candidates over three years but had enrolled only 2,790, or 26 per cent of the target.
"The budget for this scheme has reduced every year and last year's spending was less than half the budget. These startling facts have been revealed in the latest report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment tabled on August 10,2026," the Congress leader said.
He said the government should focus on strengthening public education instead of relying on online coaching.
"Rather than fundamentally fix India's broken education system or re-invest in public education, the prime minister has decided to instead invest public resources in online coaching," he said.
"It is an accountability-evading gimmick, and this government has already shown little capacity to implement this scheme successfully," Ramesh said.
Modi had announced the free online coaching initiative during his August 15 address to the nation, saying it would reduce the financial burden on families whose children prepare for competitive examinations. He also announced AI training for one crore youth.
"Coaching classes burden the poor and the middle class. We will provide free online coaching for various exams," Modi had said from the Red Fort.
"Every parent feels that if they do not send their child to a coaching class, they are not a prestigious family," he had said.
The prime minister said the initiative would help families save money spent on coaching while allowing parents to remain closer to their children.
"And therefore, we have decided to provide free online coaching for various examinations for the youth. We have digital public infrastructure; we have excellent talent and teachers. By bringing these resources together, we are going to build a complete network to provide free coaching to the youth of the country," Modi had said.
(With inputs from PTI)