Will the government’s policy response to last week’s developments at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi yield the desired results? Will it prevent any more such protests by young Indians?
The government’s immediate response to the agitation was flawed. It chose not to engage with the stakeholders, including the affected parties, and instead cracked down on the young agitators with brutal police force. It was only when the agitation became widespread that the government chose to accept major demands of the agitators — that the education minister should quit — and came out with announcements on reforming the examination system conducted by the National Testing Agency and introducing stringent legal provisions against those convicted of examination paper leaks.It is likely that more reforms in the education system will be introduced as the government begins to assess the unrest among young people in the country. More visible steps may also be taken to address the demand for salaried jobs for young people. Remember that it was largely an electoral setback that pushed the government to initiate a few schemes for jobs. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not win enough seats in the 2024 elections to form a government on its own and it had to rely on its alliance partners to retain power in New Delhi for a third consecutive term.
