Imagine a program that's meant to give students a leg up in their studies, but ends up hurting them instead. That's what happened with a coaching scheme in India that was supposed to help students from low-income families. The program was launched in 2017 with a small group of coaching institutes, but it quickly grew to reach thousands of students. At first, it seemed like a success story. But then, things started to go wrong.

Investigations found that some coaching institutes were taking advantage of the system. They were admitting fake students, using fake documents, and even claiming money for students who didn't exist. The government had released funds for coaching fees and student stipends, but the institutes were using the money for their own gain. In some cases, students didn't even get their stipends.

So, how did this happen? The problem started with the way the program was set up. The government didn't follow proper procedures when selecting the coaching institutes, and they didn't do enough to check if the students were real. It was also a problem with the way the money was handled. Instead of using separate bank accounts for each student, the institutes used a single account that made it hard to track the money. This allowed the irregularities to go unchecked.

The situation on the ground was also concerning. Some coaching institutes didn't even have the basic facilities to teach students, but they were still allowed to enroll them. And in some cases, students were sent to small local tuition centers, but the payments were claimed under the names of bigger coaching institutes. It's a mess that's hard to untangle.

The government is now trying to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. But for now, it's clear that a program that was meant to help students ended up hurting them instead. It's a reminder that even with good intentions, things can go wrong if the systems aren't in place to prevent it.