India launches exam reform task force after weeks of student protests

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Sunday a special task force to reform the country’s exam system, a day after his administration’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 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”.

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.

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.

“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.”

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