Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has resigned under extreme pressure. This was a precondition of Sonam Wangchuk and Cockroach Janata Party to end the youth movement that started at Jantar Mantar and spread to metros and small towns. In a show of seriousness, the government has quickly got the Amendment of Public Examinations Bill passed, set up a high-powered task force for reforming National Testing Agency exams, and so on.The government had come under severe pressure since July 20 when two disturbing images became visible – the anger and frustration of the youth with the corrupt and decrepit education system, and the police brutality they faced.Both these images impacted large numbers, forcing them to reflect on the systemic rot that these visuals imply. The ruling party tried to divert attention by accusing the organisers of the protest of being politically motivated. But few bought that line. After all, any systemic issue is political, social and economic, and so will its remedy be.Political does not have to be narrowly ‘party political’, involving contestation for power between two sets of vested interests. Demanding systemic change is itself a political act. And, it does not happen without people actively demanding it and confronting the vested interests. The youth demanding accountability of the education minister understood that reform of education in India would only happen when there is change at the top, from where flawed policies emanate.Prospects for reformsCJP, after its victory, told its supporters to go home. But will a stringent law like the one passed in parliament stop irregularities in examinations? Will it address the root problem? Question paper leakages and cheating in exams are not isolated occurrences. They happen due to the flawed education system and that needs a wider reform.The government has bent but for limited changes within the present system. Reform requires setting up of a commission on Education but neither CJP nor Sonam Wangchuk demanded it as a condition to end the protest. The current education policies guided by NEP 2020 have aggravated the problems of Indian education system rather than resolving them and Pradhan is credited with pushing them through. Under these policies, progressively, the budget for education has been reduced. This is deliberate – to promote commercialisation and privatisation. This is at the heart of the coaching menace, question papers leakages, etc.‘The government has bent but for limited changes within the present system.’ Photo: Nikhat Bhatty.Only a fresh holistic look at education and related aspects, like, employment, can help tackle the challenges facing the youth. The ruling party representing the vested interests pushing privatisation is clearly not interested in wider reform.No wonder, the government did not respond for a month and then did not want Pradhan’s resignation. It did not talk to the CJP leaders for a month. And then, it tried the usual dirty tricks to thwart the growing protest. Protesters were branded as anti-national, foreign funded and politically motivated. Police threatened arrests saying that they had video clips to identify trouble makers. Universities were made to issue advisories (actually orders) to students to not participate in the protest. Transportation to reach Jantar Mantar was blocked. Internet was jammed around Jantar Mantar to prevent communication and mobilisation. Restaurants were bullied for supplying food and water to the protesters. The prime minister, who has had utter disdain for protests and had been silent, suddenly issued mid-night social media messages appealing to the youth. As none of these dented the movement and even parents came to participate, government panicked and announced the Bill against cheating, the resignation of the education minister, and so on.Unfolding eventsThe use of the word ‘cockroach’ by the CJI for the vast number of unemployed youth was the trigger for the coalescing of youth into a movement. Abhijeet Dipke, then in Boston, reacted to this insult to youth by the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant by setting up an online mock political outfit, Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) which sounded like BJP in a satirical play. Over 20 million joined it in three days. Dipke sensed that it was time to return to India to start the CJP movement.The youth anger boiling over in the heart of Delhi was sudden and the rulers were surprised. The police seemed unprepared to deal with the situation and resorted to brutal violence to control the protesters. The organisers had appealed for a peaceful march to Parliament. Yet, the situation went out of hand. Extra companies of security forces were flown into Delhi. There were reports of plainclothes police initiating disturbances so as to enable the force to resort to lathi-charge and teargas and even pellet guns. The telltale sign was the truck carrying stones parked near the protest venue on the morning of July 20, prior to the start of the march. How did that happen when the authorities were even frisking the protesters coming to Jantar Mantar?When the protest started on June 20, there were crowds. But soon after, they thinned. The ruling party thought the movement had petered out and there was no need for a dialogue with the leadership of CJP. This arrogance was misconceived. Analysts suggest that in this WhatsApp age, reactions are via messages and videos rather than coming on to the streets. The thin crowds did not mean that the youth was unconcerned with the protest at Jantar MantarThe detention of Sonam Wangchuk, the face of the movement, became the trigger for the youth to come on to the streets, not only in Delhi but all across the country. Many made a beeline for Delhi. The ground swell forced political parties to react and participate in the protest movement. This did not imply the hijacking of the protest by the opposition.Youth frustrationYouth frustration has been growing. They not only face unemployment, but most don’t get work commensurate with their degree. Most are forced to take up menial jobs paying a pittance. E-shram portal data suggests that 90% earn less than Rs.10,000 per month. Only a few per cent get any decent work in the organised sector, paying well to afford a middle class or better existence. So, the vast majority, earn close to the poverty line or below it. The World Bank poverty line of $3 per person per day implies that a family of five needs around Rs 45,000 per month – a far cry for most.Government uses trickery to argue that it has taken hundreds of millions out of poverty. It claims that only 5-8 million jobs need to be created annually. The fact is that 280 million Indians do not have any proper work. As many as 22 million young are ready for the job market every year, and this if women who cannot work due to social pressure are not counted. Thus, there is need to create work for about 50 million people annually and not 5 to 8 million.This is not possible without completely revamping our economic policies. Prioritisation of employment generation and a boost to the unorganised sector are urgently needed. Instead, the government is talking of organising the unorganised – a move which can only decimate them. Its policies are helping the organised sector displace the unorganised sector. Since the former is highly automated and mechanised, it displaces work. For example, in trade, e-commerce which is highly automated is displacing the neighbourhood shops which are labour intensive.Blinkit delivery bike in Hitech City. Photo: Wikimedia CommonsUnfairnessCheating in exams is unfair to the hardworking young. Parents teach children not to lie or cheat to become good citizens. But given the paucity of good jobs, children of the well-off need every help to get ahead. Families pay through their nose for their education. Public schools have been allowed to run down, so parents are forced to send children to expensive private schools and then coaching to get into professional courses where they pay through their noses. An ordinary college degree does not guarantee a good job. So, question paper leakage and cheating is a way of overcoming any handicap that a well-off child faces in having a good life while the children of middle classes and the marginalized suffer.No wonder the young queue up in front of consulates and embassies of foreign countries to migrate there. If that does not work they use the illegal ‘dunki’ route to get into the US or Canada. It is a slap on their face when the government claims that India has become a Vishwaguru. Which country’s youth is queuing up to migrate to India to work here?The lower middle-class and middle-class families face frustration since they spend money that they can ill-afford but their children do not get decent work. When they see children whiling away their time, they brand them good for nothing. The children already depressed often resort to substance abuse and snatching money, and violence enters the home.The children of the poor have few expectations because of the burden of marginalisation and they grow up expecting little better than what their parents face.Growing illegalityAnyone who is in a position to make an extra buck is doing so. Because of its acceptability, resistance to it has declined. The result is all round illegality. In a milieu where all laws are violated, the potentially highly profitable business of education and health cannot be expected to be exceptions? Since it is hard to assign a value to education and parents are willing to spend, it becomes open to much illegality.The corrupt politicians and bureaucrats have entered the field to make a quick buck. They don’t want accountability. The regulatory apparatus is corrupted to enable illegality. Coaching institutions have come up due to the poor quality of education and compete for students by projecting their success which is facilitated by question paper leakages.The political class is hand in gloves with the corrupt rich who finance them so as to be able to manipulate policies. So, the rich not only get their legal work done but also their illegal work. So, politics and the leaders’ ascent to power has to be via illegality and in a vicious cycle, they promote illegality. So how can they be expected to check illegality?Police with a monopoly over force is required to protect this corrupt system. It is corrupt to the core and practices brutality to protect the system – something it is used to since the colonial times when it had to defend the Raj. It is brutalised and practices third degree methods and kills when ordered – encounter deaths and deaths in lockup are testimony to it. It collects hafta from the poorest working hard to sustain their families. It has little empathy for the marginalised or those challenging the leaders.§The CJP movement succeeded in getting the education minister to resign because the frustrated middle-class revolted at the unfairness of life it faces due to growing illegality. Cheating and leakage of question papers are an aspect of that illegality which makes it difficult for the vast majority to get a good job. However, the government did not have to commit to basic changes which alone will reform the education system and the job market. It was not even asked for by the CJP.The government has made a show of swift actions. Replacing the education secretary, firing 47 employees of the NTA, setting up a high-powered task force to reform exams, fast track courts, fines for question paper leakages, etc. But these are secondary to the real issues – growing commercialisation and privatisation, growing illegality and failure of regulatory apparatus, autonomy in education, decentralisation, freeing education from control of politicians and bureaucracy, and crucially, incorporation of these fundamental changes in NEP 2020.The union government has used tricks to get agitations to end by promising much but not delivering on them. For instance, take the year-long farmers’ agitation that ended in December 2021. While the farm laws were repealed, nothing has happened on the promises made to farmers. Will the youth need another campaign to get basic changes which the government has not promised?Arun Kumar retired as Professor of Economics, JNU. He is author of Indian Economy’s Greatest Crisis: Impact of the Coronavirus and the Road Ahead, 2020.