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Education Minister Resigns After Youth-Led ‘Cockroach’ Protests

The government yielded to mass student pressure with promises of compensation, non-prosecution and an exams reform taskforce even as key guarantees await formalization.

Overview

  • Dharmendra Pradhan submitted his resignation, which the president accepted on Saturday, July 25, and Pralhad Joshi was named to run the education ministry in addition to his existing portfolio.
  • Leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party announced they were ending street protests after negotiating with the government and saying core demands had been accepted.
  • Officials pledged compensation for families of students linked to the NEET exam scandal and said demonstrators would not face prosecution, though written guarantees and implementation details remain pending.
  • Clashes escalated earlier this week when protesters tried to march on Parliament and police used tear gas and batons; protesters say arrests continue and have demanded the release of detained demonstrators.
  • The crisis grew out of a leaked national medical‑entrance exam that forced more than two million candidates to retake tests and has been linked in coverage to multiple suicides, creating a rare political challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and prompting a government taskforce led by Nandan Nilekani to propose exam reforms.