Explainer: What started India's 'cockroach' protests that forced education minister to quit?

NEW DELHI: India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan quit on Saturday after days of sustained public protests demanding his resignation for examination paper leaks in May that affected about 2 million students.

Here is ​a look at what sparked the protests and the situation now:

WHY DID PROTESTERS WANT PRADHAN TO QUIT?

The immediate ‌trigger for the demonstrations was the cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), India’s undergraduate medical school entrance exam, after its question papers were found to have been leaked.

About 2 million students across India took the exam on May 3, but it was later scrapped, ​with more than a dozen student suicides linked to its cancellation.

A re-test was held in June.

WHY IS NEET IMPORTANT?

The exam ​is the sole gateway to undergraduate medical courses across India, and millions of aspirants sit for ⁠it every year, competing for fewer than 150,000 seats, making it one of India’s toughest entrance exams.

The situation is ​also symptomatic of broader strains on the country’s higher education system, where grossly limited spots leave millions cramming for months, ​or even years, and high-stakes entrance exams leave many of them burnt out and in debt.

HAVE TEST PAPERS BEEN LEAKED BEFORE?

Exam question paper leaks are fairly common in India, and the NEET questions themselves were similarly leaked in some places in 2024, although a re-test was not ​ordered at the time.

Other examination papers have also been leaked in the South Asian nation of 1.4 billion people, ​including those for recruitment of police constables and teachers.

WHY IS THIS LEAK DIFFERENT?

The exam leak this year coincided with the birth of the ‌self-named Cockroach ⁠Janta Party (CJP) satire movement, which appears to have channelled the frustration of the youth into the current protests.

Analysts say the group, which amassed millions of Instagram followers within days of being created in mid-May, tapped into the concerns of under-30s – who make up more than half the country’s population – which include high youth unemployment and the latest exam paper leak.

HOW DID THE ​GOVERNMENT RESPOND INITIALLY?

Pradhan had said ​the government was committed to ⁠addressing the concerns of the youth and promised exam reforms, while Modi himself vowed to punish those behind the leaks.

The government also proposed amending laws to allow imposing heavy fines ​and jail terms for culprits after they are tried in special courts created for ​the purpose. The ⁠protesters were, however, not impressed and insisted Pradhan should quit first.

WHAT IS THE SITUATION NOW?

Celebrations erupted on Saturday at the Jantar Mantar protest site in central Delhi where the protesters have been camping for more than a month.

But the founder of CJP said ⁠the ​government needs to fulfil two more of the protesters’ demands before the ​demonstration can end: compensate families of students who died by suicide due to the NEET paper leaks, and act against police officers accused of cracking ​down on protesters who marched on parliament on Monday.