10,500 targeted, only 2,790 students enrolled: Panel flags government free coaching scheme gaps

A government free coaching scheme meant to support economically disadvantaged students has fallen significantly short of its enrolment target, with only 2,790 students joining against a target of 10,500 over the past three years, according to a parliamentary panel report.

The findings, reported by The Hindu, highlight concerns over the implementation and reach of the Centre’s Free Coaching for SCs and OBCs scheme. The programme aims to provide quality coaching to economically disadvantaged students from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backwards Classes (OBC) communities to help them prepare for competitive examinations and gain admission to reputed technical and professional institutions.

Enrolment remains well below target

According to the parliamentary committee's assessment, the scheme recorded just 223 enrolments in 2023-24, followed by 2,136 in 2024-25 and 431 in 2025-26. Together, these figures amount to 2,790 students, substantially below the three-year target of 10,500.

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The committee expressed dissatisfaction with explanations offered by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, including limited participation by Central universities and delays in receiving proposals.

The report noted that the scheme's physical performance had remained poor despite changes introduced by the government, including making the Dr. Ambedkar Foundation the Central Nodal Agency. The panel has called for proposed changes, including participation by State universities and a student-centric model, to be implemented at the earliest.

Financial performance also draws concern

The parliamentary panel also raised concerns about the scheme's financial utilisation. In 2023-24, against a Budget Estimate of ₹47 crore, actual expenditure was around ₹7.76 crore. The Budget Estimate was subsequently reduced to ₹35 crore in 2024-25, while actual expenditure stood at ₹17.68 crore.

For 2025-26, the allocation was reduced further to ₹20 crore, with expenditure reported at around ₹7.11 crore in the committee's assessment.

In its response, however, the Ministry said there had been a positive trend in expenditure. It stated that actual spending increased from ₹7.7 crore in 2023-24 to ₹17.68 crore in 2024-25 and ₹9.866 crore in 2025-26.

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Panel questions new enrolment target

The government has set a target of enrolling 7,000 candidates under the scheme in 2026-27. The parliamentary committee questioned the rationale behind setting a significantly higher target when the earlier target had not been achieved.

The panel said, “The Committee also does not understand the reason for fixing a target of 7,000, which is double the previous target, particularly when the target fixed earlier is not being achieved.” The committee has also recommended a review of the annual family-income ceiling of ₹8 lakh so that more eligible candidates can benefit from the scheme.