Modi announces panel to reform India's exam system; anti-govt graffiti at Jantar Mantar painted over

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Sunday a special task force to reform the country’s exam system, a day after his government’s education minister resigned.

The social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) had drawn thousands of demonstrators, mainly students, to the capital’s Jantar Mantar site in New Delhi, forming one of India’s largest anti-government protests in recent years.

Modi said in a video posted to X that his administration “decided to set up a high-powered task force” led by Nandan Nilekani — the co-founder of India’s IT giant Infosys — “which will focus on examination reform”.

“Our examination system must be reliable. Our examination system must be transparent. Our examination system must make maximum use of technology,” Modi added in the video statement.

Modi said the government “will work to ensure the credibility of upcoming examinations as quickly as possible”.

Weeks of protests over exam irregularities and other issues affecting young Indians culminated on Saturday with the resignation of the education minister and the government accepting other key demands.

The movement sparked by a call for education reforms evolved to include concerns over unemployment, opportunities for young people and what critics brand as Modi’s increasingly authoritarian style of governance.

Protest site cleared

On Sunday, dozens of municipal workers were washing the pavements along the road leading to the site, where activists had camped for weeks and where just hours earlier the crowd sang protest songs, chanted slogans and painted acerbic graffiti.

“We have been here since midnight when the protesters left,” a municipal worker who declined to be identified told AFP.

“The walls have been painted, but may require another coat of paint as some lines [from the slogans] are still visible,” he said.

Nayan Thakrele, 19, one of many young people who had come from across India to join the movement, finally reached Jantar Mantar on Sunday morning.

“It’s a shame that the protest is over by the time I reached here,” Thakrele, who took a 20-hour train journey from the central state of Madhya Pradesh, told AFP.

“I first heard about it on Instagram and saw the electrifying atmosphere, colourful walls, posters, and wanted to be here and experience it myself,” Thakrele said.

‘Face the electoral consequences’

Amish, 35, had also hoped to join the protests but reached the site when it was already being painted clean.

“I had booked the flight from Mumbai before Pradhan’s resignation,” he told AFP.

Amish said that the Modi government had backed itself into a corner with its response to the protests, which at times escalated into brief clashes and outbursts of violence.

“Had they not tried a crackdown, the protest wouldn’t have become as big as it did,” said Amish.

“I feel that this government will now face the electoral consequences of its recent actions.”

A Delhi police constable at Jantar Mantar said that only a few people came there on Sunday morning, “mostly locals who are curious to see the site they’d seen in protest videos online”.

Now painted red, the wall behind the constable was used by demonstrators to put up posters and notes, including of police officers who had baton-charged or used tear gas against protesters.

“We want everything to be documented and remembered,” protester Rahul told AFP on Saturday near the so-called “wall of shame”.

“We have taken photos and videos of these posters and hope everyone shares them widely.” ...