India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Sunday a special task force will look at the country's examination system, a day after his administration's education minister resigned.

The social media-driven Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) had drawn thousands of demonstrators, mainly students, to the capital's Jantar Mantar site in New Delhi, forming one of India's largest anti-government protests in recent years.

Modi said in a video posted to X his administration "decided to set up a high-powered task force" led by Nandan Nilekani – the co-founder of India's IT giant Infosys – "which will focus on examination reform".

Weeks of protests over exam irregularities and other issues affecting young Indians culminated on Saturday with the resignation of the education minister.

On Sunday, dozens of municipal workers were washing the pavements along the road leading to the site, where activists had camped for weeks and where just hours earlier the crowd sang protest songs, chanted slogans and painted acerbic graffiti.

"Our examination system must be reliable. Our examination system must be transparent. Our examination system must make maximum use of technology," Modi added in the video statement.

Modi said the government "will work to ensure the credibility of upcoming examinations as quickly as possible."

It was Modi's first public comment since Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday. Modi did not mention Pradhan in his 30-second video statement.

The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, which spearheaded the demonstrations, called off its protests on Saturday after its demands were met.

The government also accepted the protesters' demands for reforms in the exam system, dropping police cases filed against protesters and compensating families of students who died by suicide after the exam paper leaks. (Agencies)



Edited by Cecil Wong