Under soaring pressure after 'cockroach' movement protests, India's education minister promises reforms, debate

India’s education minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration was committed to addressing the concerns of protesting youth and exam reforms, in the latest sign that the government was beginning to respond to growing protests.

The comments by Dharmendra Pradhan are his first since the youth-led “cockroach” movement launched a protest in New Delhi last month seeking his resignation over the leak of medical school test papers that affected some two million students and was linked to several student suicides.

The protests by the self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) — which began as an online satire — involved a few hundred young people when they were first launched.

This week, the movement has grown into the biggest youth challenge to Modi in his third term as the prime minister as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Delhi on Monday, clashing with police who used tear gas and batons to push them back.

The protests gained further momentum on Tuesday when the main opposition Congress party, led by Rahul Gandhi, launched a sit-in outside the gates leading to Modi’s residence.

Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several other senior opposition leaders were detained by police after they refused to end their protest, but were released late on Tuesday.

“Our government remains 100 per cent committed to discussing NEET and addressing every genuine concern of our youth on the floor of the house,” Pradhan said in a post on X late on Tuesday, referring to the medical school entrance test.

“The students of India deserve far better than being treated as props in a political campaign,” he said, referring to Gandhi’s protest.

“We owe our students more than outrage. We owe them answers, reforms and accountability. That is exactly what our government remains committed to delivering,” he added.

Pradhan’s comments follow those by Modi on Tuesday — his first on the issue — who vowed to punish those behind the exam leaks and also called on his lawmakers to help create a foolproof exam system.

Separately, Health Minister JP Nadda held talks with CJP leaders on Monday for the first time and assured them the government would consider their demands.

Gandhi demands debate in Parliament

Youth anger and protests over the exams have become the biggest challenge for the prime minister in his third term.

The CJP’s surge in popularity reflects frustrations among young Indians over issues such as job shortages, as well as exam leaks, which they say happen frequently.

It has also given opposition parties a rare opening to pressure Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who count young voters as a core base and have won a series of state elections since a shock result in the 2024 election, when Modi did not win an outright parliamentary majority.

“Why is the Indian education system collapsing? Why are papers leaking? Why is education so expensive in India? Why do families have to destroy themselves financially to educate their children?” Gandhi said in a video message recorded while he was in detention at a Delhi stadium on Tuesday night.

“These are legitimate questions. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking these questions,” he said.

Gandhi said the students’ issues should be debated in parliament on Wednesday and Modi should apologise to the students for the police action on Monday and begin reforms to the examination and education systems as soon as possible.

The CJP movement gained momentum from the support of activist Sonam Wangchuk, who began a hunger strike on June 28, but was forcibly moved to a hospital by police on Saturday.

On Tuesday, he was moved to a private hospital following a court order in response to a petition from his wife that alleged he had been illegally detained. ...