India's Education Minister addresses exam reform concerns amid protests

India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration was committed to addressing the concerns of youth protesters and examination reforms, as he broke his silence amid intensifying calls for his resignation.

Protesters have asked Pradhan to step down, angered by a slew of entrance test paper leaks, including those of a major medical school entrance exam called National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

The NEET paper leak in May forced over two million students to resit the highly-competitive exam, leading to some young applicants taking their own lives.

"Our Government remains 100% committed to discussing NEET and addressing every genuine concern of our youth on the floor of the House," Pradhan said on X.

He criticized opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and his Congress party's Tuesday protest outside Modi's residence, describing it as a "political spectacle," and saying that the government conveyed its readiness for a comprehensive discussion on the students' issues.

"The students of India deserve far better than being treated as props in a political campaign. They deserve certainty over chaos, solutions over slogans and responsibility over disruption," Pradhan said, referring to Gandhi's demonstration.

He said that students were owed "answers, reforms and accountability" and the Modi government "remains committed to delivering".

The statement is Pradhan's first on the youth protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) that started as a sit-in demonstration at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar on June 20 and quickly snowballed into a protest march on Monday, drawing thousands of protesters into the streets of central Delhi — India's main corridor of political power.

Police had denied permission for the march to the Indian parliament but the 'Cockroach' protesters pushed ahead, clashing with police who used tear gas and batons to push them back.

According to official figures, nearly 180 people — including 118 police personnel and 60 protesters — were injured.

India's opposition MPs held a protest in the parliament premises in New Delhi on Wednesday wearing black clothes as they called out "police brutality" in Monday's crackdown on youth protesters in the capital.

The lawmakers are protesting against the "Modi government's mishandling of the students' movement, and the continuation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in office," the opposition Congress party said.

India's main leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi and senior Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi were present at the demonstration, after being briefly detained the previous evening during their protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence, where they called for the Indian leader's resignation.

"Students have genuine demands and are asking for their rights," Priyanka Gandhi told the media on Wednesday, adding that there was "nothing undemocratic about peaceful protest."

The opposition lawmakers' protest comes as the Indian parliament tries to proceed with its third day of the monsoon session.

The parliament has had a rocky start to its second session of the year, as thousands of young protesters tried to march to its gates on Monday demanding Pradhan's resignation and broader reforms to the country's examination system.

Inside the bicameral parliament, disruptions by opposition MPs demanding a discussion on entrance exam paper leaks over the last three days have led to the recurrent adjournment of both houses — the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

Opposition lawmakers are planning to hold a demonstration outside one of the gates of the Indian parliament as they demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The opposition protest comes two days after a swell of thousands of youth protesters — angered over what they call failures in the education system — tried to march to the parliament and were met with batons and tear gas volleys in a police crackdown.

The youth protest is seen as one of the biggest public challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government since he was reelected for a third time in 2024.

Last evening, dramatic scenes unfolded in the Indian capital as opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and members of his Congress party were briefly detained after they marched to Modi's doorstep, demanding his resignation over the police action against the student protesters.

Pradhan has issued his first statement since the protest against him led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement began over a month ago.

Meanwhile, at the protest 'ground zero' of Jantar Mantar, hundreds are still camping as the CJP presses ahead with its demands.