India's education minister resigns amid protests over paper leaks

India's education minister resigned on Saturday after weeks of nationwide protests calling for his removal over alleged exam paper leaks and irregularities in the country's education system.

In a post on US social media platform X, Dharmendra Pradhan said the events of the past 10 days had saddened him, and this is “not a matter of personal prestige for me.”

“The unity of the nation must remain intact. Not a single student's future in India should become entangled in legal complications. Our children should devote their time to studies and focus on building their careers,” he said. “Keeping all these considerations in mind, I have sent my resignation to the Honorable Prime Minister.”

The protests were led by the newly founded Cockroach Janta Party, a popular movement that emerged in response to controversial comments made by the country's chief justice, who likened unemployed youth to cockroaches.

This week in the capital New Delhi, police used tear gas and batons to disperse marchers trying to reach parliament.

News of the resignation sparked celebrations among the thousands camped at the Jantar Mantar protest site in the capital, as the Cockroach party declared victory.

“We won't stop here. This is just the beginning. I salute all students, all the volunteers who have been sitting here for the last 36 days,” the movement’s founder Abhijeet Dipke said.

‘Victory of millions of youth’

Chief of India's main opposition Congress party, Mallikarjun Kharge, described it as a “victory of our millions of youth who raised their voices on the streets across the country to fix the education system.”

“India's ‘Students' echo’ has finally reached the threshold of arrogant power,” Kharge wrote on X.

He said it is now Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “turn to apologize to our young generation and to take strict action against those who unleashed lathis, batons, and pellet guns on them.”

Agitation withdrawn

Meanwhile, after talks with the government, the Cockroach party announced an end to the protests, saying all its demands were accepted.

“We withdraw the agitation in good faith, with the understanding that the agreed-upon terms will be executed within the agreed-upon timelines,” the party's chief spokesman Saurav Das told reporters.

Another spokesman, Ashutosh Ranka said “all our demands have been accepted.”

“So we request the protesters to withdraw immediately and return home peacefully,” he said. “We will inform you of our future strategy or any other issues,” he said, adding that “we request the protesters to withdraw immediately.”

The party said the government agreed on maximum possible compensation for families of paper leak-related suicides, all cases against demonstrators will be withdrawn, and a five-point exam reform charter will be considered.

At least 11 aspirants are said to have committed suicide in India after the government voided the results of entrance exams following the leaks.