Nationwide organisation of youth can be a catalyst for meaninful change
They say India is a land of contradictions. When they love a leader, they worship him like a God. When they hate the leader, they despise him with the same intensity. As a millennial, the India Against Corruption (IAC) Movement and Nirbhaya are the two watershed protests that I observed from very close quarters. I used to go to Jantar Mantar and India Gate for both the movements. Never protested because my ideas, ideals and ideology were different from those who led the IAC movement—but attended most of it, keenly observing how the protestors react, how the police behave with them and how these protests are ‘managed’. Nirbhaya was, by and large, a genuine and spontaneous outburst of emotions. Still, IAC was, and later proved, completely orchestrated by the RSS, with a devious motive to plant a fresh set of anarchic, non-ideological and opportunistic actors in the Indian polity such as Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Shazia Ilmi, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Kumar Vishwas and the likes.
The present Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) movement started as a meme, but presented an opportunity to the RSS-puppeted AAP to rebrand itself after the massive debacle it suffered in Delhi and after 7 out of its 10 MPs left its parent organisation. Ask anybody on the streets today, and they will have nothing but disdain against Anna Hazare and Kejriwal, the two protagonists of the IAC movement. None of the scams they alleged were proven. No politician is behind bars. Not even a senior government official is behind bars, and even though the Congress-UPA government sat across the table with them to discuss their “Jan Lokpal” Bill, and passed it in 2013, the Act has been lying in the dustbin of history for 12 years, and nobody cares. Kejriwal ruled Delhi for almost 12 years, but did not pass their version of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
This flashback was necessary to contrast what is happening today. The CJP movement also has two protagonists – Sonam Wangchuk and Abhijit Dipke. Wangchuk is in his 26th day of hunger strike, now in a private hospital. He has strategically climbed down on his demand for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. Instead of resignation, his latest letter says “consideration of the resignation of the Honourable Education Minister”. But here is a surprise. This protest has gone beyond the CJP or AAP. The government thought that on 20th July, some protestors would gather and they would be able to either use it as a safety valve to release some steam (which I mentioned in my edition #1) or they may be able to nip the protestors in the bud and maintain their hegemony. Neither of these happened.
From Mumbai to Mizoram, from Surat to Patna, organic protests led by Gen Z have erupted. More and more videos of innovative protests, processions, arrests, lathicharge, and water canon use have emerged across India. As a millennial, I owe an apology to Gen Z, because I underestimated their game. From quirky placards to artwork, from cuss words to skits, from shedding blood on the streets to openly distancing themselves from their BJP-supporting parents — they are doing everything possible. Some are making sure protest sites are not littered. Some are taking care of strays. Some are seen holding hands with older people to march along in unison. Even if it is for likes and followers on Instagram, they are resisting and resonating. Resistance matters against tyrannical regimes, and July 20th could well be a turning point for an organic revolution. The RSS-BJP ecosystem is using the same tactics as they used during the Kisan Andolan (Farmers’ agitation), where seemingly neutral celebrities were used to post balanced pro-government stuff. In the words of Modi Ji, we now await a full-blown 3P campaign from the BJP ecosystem – propaganda, paid PR and punitive actions. However, no one is talking about the other P.
P for Parliament. I had presented some solutions to reform our education system in the previous editions. Let us first revisit some more facts about the education system, especially in the context of employment numbers.
According to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey, youth unemployment is at a staggering 29%. The figure of 29% represents unemployment among young graduates. In simple terms, nearly three out of every ten young Indians with a college degree who are actively seeking employment remain without a job. That stark contrast with the overall unemployment rate reveals a deeper crisis. In today’s India, higher education is no longer a reliable pathway to employment. For many young people, earning a degree has ceased to be a safeguard against unemployment and has instead become a marker of unfulfilled aspirations.
According to the State of Working India 2026 report, India’s higher education system has been producing graduates far faster than the economy has been generating suitable employment. Between 2004 and 2023, around 5 million young people graduated annually, but employment opportunities emerged for only about 2.8 million of them—even more concerning, less than 2 million secured regular salaried positions. The result is a growing backlog of educated young people whose aspirations remain unrealised, with each passing year adding to an expanding pool of qualified but underemployed or unemployed talent.
The coaching economy has expanded into one of the largest segments of India’s education ecosystem. Valued at an estimated ₹54,000–58,000 crore, the sector is growing by 15–20% annually and now serves nearly 7.1 crore students. Its explosive growth is not accidental. It reflects an education system in which competitive examinations have become the principal gateway to opportunity, while mainstream schooling increasingly fails to prepare students to succeed in them.
This burden is increasingly being shifted onto families. As public investment struggles to keep pace with educational needs, households are spending ever larger sums on private education. Data from the Ministry of Statistics show that household expenditure on education rose from ₹1.8 lakh crore in FY12 to ₹8.43 lakh crore in FY24—an increase of nearly 4.6 times.
The National Sample Survey’s Comprehensive Modular Survey on Education (2025) reinforces this trend. It estimates average annual household spending on school education at ₹22,024 per student, with private coaching accounting for about 40.7% of the total. In effect, coaching has evolved from a supplementary service into an essential expense, significantly increasing the financial burden on families.
The inequality is even more pronounced in rural India. The same survey found that 44.7% of rural households’ education spending goes towards coaching, compared with 35.3% in urban areas. Those with the fewest resources are compelled to devote the greatest share of their income to private tutoring. For millions of poorer families, coaching has become an attempt to compensate for unequal schooling, limited access to quality education, and the advantages that wealthier students already enjoy. What is presented as an avenue for merit has, in practice, become an additional financial burden on those least able to bear it.
It is not a secret that youth are still looking for stable government jobs instead of the private sector, even though government ones have moved towards contractualisation. The handful of sarkari jobs which are available use highly competitive examinations as an entry point. In this scenario, if one paper leaks every month, what would the young do? Obviously, stare at a bleak future.
This explains the revolution.