Students leave a NEET centre in Vijayawada on May 3, 2026.
| Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri
In his 2026 Independence Day address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the government will roll out free online coaching for competitive exams using India’s digital public infrastructure. The announcement was made in a bid to reach out to the Gen-Z youth, especially following the widespread student protests against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak. The objective of the PM’s announcement was to save poor and middle-class families thousands of crores while also helping students prepare without leaving their homes. However, can free public technology break the private coaching industry? Buddha Chandrasekhar and Anubhav Shrivastava discuss the question in a conversation moderated by Maitri Porecha.
How do you view the announcement made by PM Modi to provide free online coaching?Buddha Chandrasekhar: Prime Minister Modi’s announcement on August 15 is a major intervention in education equity. We need to see it as an opportunity to redesign the entire competitive exam preparation ecosystem so that the probability of success depends less on family income, geography and access to an elite coaching centre. India has digital public infrastructure, teachers and talent. We can create a better personalised and customised free online coaching network.
