Open Forum

New Delhi, 2 September 2026

Glacial Floods

COORDINATED STRATEGY VITAL

By Dhurjati Mukherjee 

The nature and scale of disasters are becoming increasingly hazardous, affecting millions of people across the world. This is starkly evident in the very recent glacial flood disaster in Nepal. The catastrophe was of such magnitude that the death toll reportedly rose to about 1000, while more than 2,500 people were reported missing, including around 275 Indians, according to Nepal’s disaster response agency. 

T\he disaster was reportedly triggered by the bursting of a glacial lake formed following a landslide. Satellite imagery reviewed by The New York Times indicated that the lake had breached, unleashing a massive flood and causing widespread devastation. 

Scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Maintain Development (ICIMOD) estimate that a large volume of ice and rock debris resulted in a powerful surge of water, sediment and boulders downstream. Such cascading behaviour has been witnessed before in the Himalayas, reviving comparisons with the 2021 Chamoli tragedy in Uttarakhand when a massive rock and ice avalanche triggered a deluge, killing 200 people and destroying two hydropower projects. According to geoscientists, a rock-ice avalanche is dangerous because it may set in motion a chain reaction. Experts pointed out that warm temperatures are adding to the instability of high mountain environments. 

The flash floods in Nepal and Tibet were according to geologists set off by a dual high-altitude landslide and glacial avalanche that unleashed huge volumes of water. Disaster experts are of the opinion that such events are difficult to predict. Moreover, the collapse being sudden, it would have been extremely difficult to warn in advance.   

As per available statistics, there are 2070 glacial lakes in Nepal, 21 of which are classified as high risk, as per a 2020 report by the ICIMOD. There are many more surrounding lakes in the Himalayan areas of China and India. There were altogether 135 GLOF (glacial lake outburst flood) events in the Karakoram region from 1900 to 2000, and the present century has already witnessed around 85. As the region is full of glaciers – around 22,800 sq. km in the Himalayas and the area is warming faster than the planet, the region is susceptible to more such floods. 

Higher temperatures and rainfall are accelerating this change and that is the reason why such events occur from June to August. Scientists see a lot of glaciers melting in the coming years and, by some estimates, 65 per cent of the ice mass region could disappear by 2100. 

In such a situation, roughly 1 million people who live within 10 km of a glacial lake are susceptible to the growing risk of disasters and it would be necessary to relocate them away from narrow river valleys and go easy on infra projects in mountainous areas.  

There is need to give credence to IPCC’s special report on oceans and cryosphere which confirmed that glacial lake outburst floods are expected to become more frequent as warming continues because the same warming that shrinks glaciers is what fills and destabilises lakes downstream of them. An Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology assessment found that the Indo-Gangetic plain witnessed its mean southwest monsoon rainfall decline by roughly 0.5 mm per day per decade between 1951 and 2924, a genuine drying trend across the belt that includes Bihar. Thus, it is evident that there are sharper, more concentrated bursts even as the season’s average falls. 

As regards India, it needs to be stated that this country witnesses the highest number of fatalities from GLOF, similar to the one witnessed in Nepal. This has been revealed by experts from a global consortium belonging to six-seven countries. It would be pertinent to mention that a paper titled ‘Glacial Outburst Flood Risks, Response Strategies & Adaptation Gaps in the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region’, which covers data from 1995 to 2025, found that China witnessed 199 GLOFs, followed by Pakistan (152) and India (62) and Nepal (5). 

The paper rightly pointed out that climate factors meaning acceleration of warming, specially since the start of this century, led to the increasing frequency of such avalanches.  It is significant that the study noted “The predominance of moraine and ice-damned lakes in the HKH (Hindu Kush Himalayan) GLOF events, accounting for around 80 per cent of observed outburst and almost all recorded fatalities reflects the inherent instability of these dam types under warming conditions”. 

It can definitely be stated that with satellites available now, the situation is much easier though prediction, as experts pointed out, may be a difficult proposition. Moreover, countries exposed to these mountains and glaciers like China, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan should coordinate to keep people safe across borders. But this has not happened till date. India’s National GLOF Risk Mitigation Programme marked 195 glacial lakes at risk and follows five key priorities such as assessment, monitoring, early warning, mitigation and community awareness. There is also a high-level coordination committee on GLOF risk reduction.   

India took some positive steps after October 2023 when global rocks of 14.7 cubic metre collapsed in South Lhounak Lake in Sikkim generating a 20 m high displacement wave, wiping out several hydropower assets and settlements on its way downstream. The government also allocated Rs 150 crore for the National GLOF Risk Mitigation Programme for four Himalayan states having high risk glacial lakes.    

While the government has started giving some attention to the question of lake outburst, there is need to take lessons from the Sikkim tragedy followed by one in Chamoli in 2025 and then the recent one of our neighbour. It is necessary to install glacial regions  in the mountainous areas that can transmit data directly to monitoring stations. Added to this, AI systems may be used to spot changes in these glaciers and create their risk profiles. Many other countries have adopted similar systems. 

Experts warn that a far greater disaster could strike the region if adequate safety measures are not strictly enforced and vulnerable populations are not relocated to safer areas, preferably at least 5–10 km away from glaciers and glacial lakes. There is an urgent need for an inter-governmental mechanism involving India, Bhutan and Nepal, and perhaps China, to formulate a coordinated long-term strategy for monitoring glaciers, assessing risks and preventing or mitigating GLOFs. Given that glaciers and glacial lakes do not recognise national boundaries, regional cooperation, real-time data sharing and an effective early-warning system are imperative. ---INFA 

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)

Political Diary                                                                                                                 

New Delhi, 1 September 2026

Reservation: Electoral Currency

TIGHTROPE OVER CASTE CHASM

By Poonam I Kaushish 

It’s the season of protests. Post Gen Z-CJP the Reservation Hatao Aandolan is the hot favourite   spiced with an extraordinary public clash between two Union Cabinet Ministers demanding each other’s resignation, exposing how combustible the caste genie has become. Bringing things to such a pass that reservation which was supposed to be a bridge to social justice is increasingly looking like a bridge over a political minefield.

For decades, caste-based reservation was India’s politically sacred and socially explosive subject with Governments learning the hard way that touching it can burn. But, today, anger is no longer confined to one side of the caste divide as beneficiaries are demanding more, non-beneficiaries are demanding fairness.

Communities within reserved categories want a larger share and the general category is asking a question Governments have avoided: How long can reservation remain a permanent entitlement rather than a temporary instrument of social justice?

The Modi Government now finds itself walking a tightrope between these competing constituencies demanding fundamental rethink of caste-based quotas: Government assistance should be based on economic disadvantage rather than caste. Followed by fight between Dalit Ministers LJP’s Paswan and HUM’s Manjhi exposing BJP/NDA’s increasingly difficult caste arithmetic.

The dispute is over “reservation within reservation,” whether existing SC/ST quota should be sub-divided so that the most deprived communities within SC/ST receive a guaranteed share. Paswan opposes this as SC reservation’s cause was historical caste discrimination and untouchability, not poverty and dividing into competing sub-castes could fracture their political and social unity. Why bring economic criterion into reservation, he questions? 

Manjhi supports sub-classification as existing SC quota wasn’t reaching the most disadvantaged Dalit communities as better-represented groups had captured a disproportionate share of benefits. 

Thus, the reservation debate has become a quote war and lit a political tinderbox within the Dalit constituency. A reflection of a deeper battle over who gets what, who has enough and who is left behind, wherein there isn’t a single, unified political position. And this is where Government’s tightrope becomes thinner. As for years, the political narrative surrounding reservation was binary: privileged vs deprived, upper caste vs historically disadvantaged communities.

Today, thanks to our netagan caste politics has become more complicated: a battle within reserved categories as reservation benefits are not reaching every section equally, precisely why demand for sub-categorisation has gained traction. The more politically organised and socially advanced among disadvantaged communities are capturing a disproportionate share of benefits, leaving the most marginalised and disadvantaged sections at the bottom. Others, defend reservation as social rather than economic justice and oppose reducing it to income alone.

Both arguments have political legitimacy and contain a dangerous truth. Economic poverty does not erase caste discrimination. And neither does caste automatically mean economic deprivation. A person from a historically disadvantaged community may be economically prosperous. Conversely, a person outside the reserved categories may be desperately poor.

Consequently, the uncomfortable question is: Should the State continue to treat caste as the primary proxy for disadvantage when disadvantage itself has become far more complex?

There is no easy answer. Reservation was never designed as a poverty alleviation programme. It was conceived to address historical exclusion and social discrimination. That distinction cannot be wished away. But neither can Government ignore a growing perception among Gen Z that opportunity is becoming a zero-sum game.

For a generation competing fiercely for limited seats in universities, professional courses and Government employment, reservation can be perceived not as a ladder of social justice but as a barrier standing between them and opportunity. 

Government now faces a paradox. It cannot antagonise the vast electorate that sees reservation as a Constitutional guarantee and shield against historical discrimination. Simultaneously, it cannot ignore a growing section that believes the system has become unfair, opaque or politically manipulated.

BJP spent years breaking the old caste equations and benefited from expanding its social coalition beyond its traditional upper-caste support base to OBCs, Dalits, EBCs and smaller caste groups. It is now discovering caste has come back with a vengeance, this time in multiple fragments.

The Government cannot abolish reservation as that would alienate a huge section of its expanded social coalition. But it cannot endlessly expand or sub-divide reservation either which further complicates matters. It isn’t upper caste vs Dalit/OBC but upper caste vs reserved communities vs sub-caste vs sub-caste and everybody vs everybody over the shrinking Government jobs pie and educational opportunities.

Upper-castes ask:  “Where do we fit?” A question BJP cannot ignore. The danger isn’t upper castes will abandon it. It’s subtler. Alienation can manifest as apathy, abstention, tactical voting or create new political platforms. And once caste becomes the principal currency of political entitlement, every community has an incentive to demand its own bargaining power.

Worse, every attempt to reform reservation risks producing the opposite reaction. Reduce quotas, and one constituency erupts. Expand them, another feels cheated. Sub-categorise them, communities within reserved groups begin fighting among themselves. Introduce economic criteria, the fundamental rationale of caste-based affirmative action is challenged. Do nothing, resentment festers.

Alongside, emergence of an anti-reservation constituency presents Government with a political challenge it cannot brush aside. Hence the caste tightrope is getting thinner everyday as it attempts to address both its broader social base and renewed upper-caste concerns. Whereby, Government’s dilemma is not administrative, but electoral.

It is caught between social justice and electoral justice, with neither side accepting the other’s definition of fairness. Its challenge is no longer managing caste, its dealing with caste politics expectations. Because once you tell communities that political representation and State benefits must reflect its caste identity, one cannot ask them to stop counting because every new concession creates another group asking:  “What about us?”

Alas, reservation has become electoral currency which converts citizens into competing vote- banks whereby Government knows removing or radically altering quotas can cost votes. Hence, it cannot put the genie back into the bottle. Result? A vicious cycle wherein political mobilisation produces demands which produce promises, promises create fresh claims which generate new agitations. Thus, the Constitution risks becoming a bargaining table.

What India needs isn’t a shouting match between castes but evidence-based social justice framework: Who is benefiting from reservation? Who is being left out? How many generations of same family have benefited? Which communities remain deprived? Does economic advancement alter need for reservation in every category? Should there be greater sub-categorisation? What role should education, income, occupation and geographical deprivation play? What is the exit strategy?

Therefore, the objective should not be to create an India permanently divided between reserved and unreserved citizens. It should be to create a country where reservation eventually becomes less necessary because the underlying inequalities have diminished. Remember, any affirmative-action policy without measurable outcomes risks becoming permanent rather than corrective intervention.

We don’t need another political patchwork. We need a reservation policy which is just without being unjust, inclusive without becoming indefinite, protective without being permanent and data-driven without becoming de-humanising. Else, what began as an instrument to bridge India’s caste divide could end up deepening it.

The irony? Ambedkar put a clock on reservation but 76 years later our leaders have forgotten to ask when the clock is supposed to stop. After all, reservation was meant to be the ladder out of caste inequality. Today, it must not become the wall that keeps India divided by caste forever. ---- INFA

(Copyright India News & Feature Alliance)

Economic Highlights

New Delhi, 31 August 2026

‘Rat Holes’ Kill Himalayas

CAN INDIA, SAARC SAVE IT?

By Shivaji Sarkar 

Nepal floods are a grim warning for not only India, but the entire subcontinent improperly called South Asia. Afghanistan to Tibet, the Himalayan region is one territory – continuous and contiguous geographical unit – that has to share happiness and more than that turmoil together. 

Each Himalayan tragedy only signals the next one. Business as usual is no longer defensible. The woes have to be shared and stand together. The Indian Ocean tsunami to Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) recreates that together you live or die. The largest and most populous country that needs to lead the subcontinent, euphemistically called SAARC. If India has to progress it has to be inclusive and care for all its eight major neighbours and even have Iran and bête noire Pakistan as a close ally. 

The August 26 Nepal-Tibet flash floods were caused not by a conventional GLOF, but by a massive high-altitude glacier collapse and ice-rock avalanche. A large glacier section collapsed in Tibet, temporarily damming the river. When the debris dam breached, a huge torrent of water, mud and rock swept into Nepal, killing hundreds and destroying roads, bridges and hydropower projects. 

Satellite analysis suggests about two-thirds of the glacier body collapsed, with no clear evidence of a pre-existing glacial lake bursting. Climate warming, combined with the Himalayas’ steep and unstable terrain, likely contributed to the collapse.

The warning is stark: Himalayan glaciers themselves—not just glacial lakes—are becoming potential triggers of catastrophic floods. 

The deaths, some thousands or 320, or so confirmed alone in the recent GLOF does not shake the region. None counts the cattle heads, forest animals, fauna and washout of large tracts of land from Tibet to Nepal and beyond to Bihar, West Bengal and other places in a jiffy. Most of these countries do not have a disaster management system that India and Tibetan Chinese projects built over the last over past few decades. A calamity burdens India with the task to restore the neighbourhood. Its disaster force has to extend to the region. 

The Little Ice Age is at its end. Europe is simmering, rivers and lakes drying up. Himalayas are melting. Research studies note 40 percent of the Nepal glacial ice cover is gone. Human safety is at stake since the times of Noah’s ark or the Manu’s giant fish driven boat. Who can have that sagacity of selecting the species to save the life? A US-led war in the Gulf or Caspian Sea only aggravates the conditions.

The region from Hindukush Silk Route to the Eastern and northern-most Himalayas are being deforested and rat-holed with giant tunnel boring machines for dams, river diversions, bridges and series of projects for rails and roads now even in the most sensitive and fragile Badarinath-Kedarnath for “strategic” toll roads. Competitive developmental disaster has hit the mute Himalayas. 

Detonations for projects in western, northern or southern Himalayas can lead to mini-tremors and other seismic activities leading to gradual devastations across the region. Is the present avalanche in Tibet connected to Tibet-Nepal Rail link or series of tunnels linked to Atal and other tunnels in Kashmir? Immediate cause may be with Tibet-Nepal rail or massive Medong and other dams being built by China. 

India has constructed and is building major strategic and transportation tunnels across the Himalayan region from Jammu & Kashmir to Uttarakhand, drastically improving connectivity, defence logistics and earning massive tolls for profits. 

The pride of Indian Railway tunnel at Karnaprayag caused severe water crisis towards northeastern parts across Karnaprayag. The sinking Joshimath is no less a disaster with road constructions all around. 

Predicted in Yore

Mythology and traditions predicted Himalayan disaster in the Badarinath Valley millennia ago. The Narasimha murti at Joshimath, a must before a visit to Badarinath, has a legend saying the day thinning tip of the iconic idol’s finger separates from its body, the Valley would vanish. The worship would begin at Bhavishya Badari, 17 km from Joshimath. 

Such tales abound in folklores. Has the time for the Himalayan disaster arrived? Competitive destruction, praised as development, seemingly etching the wiping out of the Indian subcontinent. The engine of growth may become the beginning of a deluge that may be worse than what the Bibilical or Puranical tales write about Noah or Manu. 

The Himalayan “wiping out” would turn the entire northern Indian plains into a massive desert.Interestingly, it would have aggravated the situation in Europe already hit by severe heat-drought cycles.The subcontinent is becoming the architect of a Euro-Asian disaster that may be altering the characteristics of the Arctic and Antacrctic. Massive floating icebergs may be the tip. 

Would any sane regime prevail in a Donald Trumpian-construction industry billions-of-dollar fervour for rebuilding Gaza to Kashmir? It’s complex phenomenon with massive funds stuck in profits sucked from the poor.

Key with India and SAARC

Uttarakhand saw two deadly glacier-related disasters within three months in 2021. A February glacial-lake breach killed at least 61 people, left 143 missing and damaged two hydropower projects; a second glacier collapse in April killed 12. ICIMOD has identified 47 potentially dangerous glacial lakes across the Koshi, Gandaki and Karnali basins. With Himalayan glaciers reportedly melting at twice the early-2000s rate, the risks are rising, while South Asia’s glacial-flood early-warning systems and regional cooperation remain woefully limited. 

Jammu &Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, ArunachalPradesh are rapidly expanding large tunnel networks through fragile Himalayan terrain. 

Himalayan disasters demand basin-wide, cross-border governance. SAARC must move beyond a political forum and revive regional disaster mechanisms, real-time data sharing and joint rescue protocols. India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh should integrate satellite and ground monitoring of glaciers, landslides and glacial lakes with automated downstream warnings. Shared river-basin assessments, strict floodplain zoning and common climate-resilient construction standards should replace isolated project clearances. The Himalayas need a ridge-to-valley, transboundary strategy in which early warning, ecological protection and disaster response work as one system. 

It needs review of 50 tunnelling projects in Uttarakhand and series of activities from Arunachal to Kashmir and on the Tibetan side turning the Himalayas into massive holes and craters. Each project drains massive public funds and leads closer to catastrophe. A joint SAARC action may turn the future of the Asia and the world. 

India has the highest stake. It has to save the world with virulent dialogue in the neighbourhood to save the Himalayas and the Indian subcontinent, as a precursor to rescue the world. ---INFA 

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)

Spotlight

New Delhi, 29 August 2026

Youth Protests in India

CAUSES, COURSE & PROSPECTS

By Adam Burakowski

(Centre for Intl Relations, Poland) 

While causes of youth discontent run deep in India and are difficult to resolve, a scenario like that seen in neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal—where ruling administrations were forcibly ousted—is currently ruled out. 

Indian society is young—indeed, very young. The median age is 29. For comparison, this figure stands at 43 in Poland, 39 in the United States, 40 in China, 35 in Brazil, and 50 in Japan. The global median is 30 years, a figure that takes into account the very young and rapidly growing populations of Africa (where the median age in many countries is under 20). 

As the world’s most populous nation, India’s absolute figures are invariably striking. There are approximately 400 million people belonging to “Gen Z” (those born between 1995 and 2012) in India—a number roughly equivalent to two-thirds of Europe’s population (excluding Russia). This group includes around 45 million university students—roughly the total population of Spain. Young people who have reached the age of majority and are eligible to vote (aged 18–29) account for approximately 30% of the total electorate. 

India is currently experiencing a “demographic dividend”—a period characterized by a disproportionately large working-age population, which accounts for approximately 70% of the total, or over a billion people. However, to avoid rising unemployment, India needs to create around 10 million jobs annually. 

University admission rates hover around 30% of applicants; however, for the most popular fields of study, this figure drops to approximately 0.5%, making admission to one’s dream programme virtually impossible. It’s also worth noting that public universities employ affirmative action policies for individuals from lower castes, further reducing the chances for young people from higher castes to gain admission to their preferred courses. 

The higher education system is one of the weakest links—if not the weakest—in the entire structure of the Indian state. There are very few universities offering world-class education. Indian institutions are rarely found on international rankings of top universities; the best among them typically rank outside the top 500. 

Furthermore, considering the country’s scale, there are few such institutions, and they admit a surprisingly small number of students. The prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University in the capital has a student body of around 8,000. At the other end of the spectrum in the capital is the University of Delhi, which educates over 700,000 students; however, the quality of education is mostly average, and admission to the best programmes is highly restricted. A similar situation prevails in other major cities. 

In terms of academic excellence, the network of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT)—established during the Nehru era—stands out as the best. Notably, figures such as Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, are graduates of various IITs. Then there are private schools; their numbers are rising, and their standards are improving—albeit very slowly. While they meet a certain market demand, their offerings are rarely satisfactory in terms of both educational quality and cost. 

As mentioned, children from upper-caste families face the most difficult situation; despite their parents often having the means to pay for education, these students have limited chances of securing a place at a top-tier domestic university. Studying abroad is immensely popular, particularly in English-speaking countries. However, leaving India is an option available only to those whose families possess sufficient financial means and who can obtain the necessary visas. 

Graduating from higher education—even a reputable institution—does not automatically guarantee a good job offer. Quite the opposite. While youth unemployment stands at around 10%, the rate rises in tandem with the level of education. Illiterate individuals and those with no formal schooling find employment without difficulty; the unemployment rate in this group is only about 1%. Naturally, this involves low-paid manual labour. 

Those who have completed secondary education also tend to face few employment issues, with an unemployment rate of around 5% in this group. In contrast, university graduates encounter real difficulties finding work; unemployment here rises to approximately 13%, while among young graduates (under the age of 25), it reaches as high as 40%. 

The Indian labour market simply lacks sufficient opportunities for the highly educated; furthermore, Indian universities fail to keep pace with technological progress and economic needs, churning out masses of graduates with knowledge that is obsolete or useless to the business world. Nevertheless, the pressure to obtain an education has been immense for decades. Failure in exams often becomes a major personal tragedy, and in extreme cases, it ends in suicide. 

These are not the only problems facing higher education in India. Even the most prestigious institutions suffer from abysmal—or even catastrophic—infrastructure. Conditions at many leading universities—in both lecture halls and dormitories—need much to be desired. Academic staff earn very little, which means they lack social standing. Another consequence is the inability to attract professional faculty from abroad; such salaries offer little incentive. 

Consequently, the quality of education suffers. State universities also serve as recruiting grounds for political youth wings; as a result, they sometimes become arenas for political agitation and unrest, hindering students’ learning. Media reports also highlight various negative phenomena on campuses, such as identity-based tensions and crime. The most significant consequence of all this is rampant corruption and nepotism. Underpaid and frustrated faculty members are susceptible to seeking supplementary income, while students are fiercely determined to achieve high scores. 

It was the exposure of this corrupt practice that triggered the largest wave of youth protests in over a decade, following a leak of NEET exam questions. The public outrage, satirical criticism playing out online with activist Abhijeet Dipke announcing formation of Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), the youth physical protest at Jantar Mantar, resignation of Education Minister, government promising to release detained protesters, drop charges against many and reform the university entrance exam system, are all well documented. 

Following the protests, the CJP began to take shape. Dipke and other leaders emphasised “Cockroach Party”didn’t intend to be a political party, but rather a pressure group representing the younger generation and demanding genuine reforms. Its next goal is to improve the quality of education in rural public schools. 

For the Opposition, the youth protests offered the first opportunity in years to harness genuine public sentiment. Issues surrounding higher education and spectre of youth unemployment affect the majority of the country's population, as the circumstances facing young people are typically a matter of concern for entire multi-generational families. The previous major wave of protests—farmers’ demonstrations of 2020–2021—had stirred emotions among only a segment of the citizenry. 

Initially, Opposition parties failed to capitalise on the opportunity presented by the youth protests, but slowly leaders started visiting the protest site and later took up cudgels with the government over brute force being against the protestors. 

Modi’s government was caught off guard by the scale of the protests. Its response was delayed; initially, officials downplayed the issue, hoping tensions would subside. Subsequently, the authorities acted with considerable brutality in suppressing demonstrations. Although the BJP was reluctant to see its minister resign, the decision was ultimately made to remove him in order to defuse tensions. Promises of reform and a general improvement in the prospects for young people were also made. 

The protesters themselves played a major role in this; they were unwilling to let their sacrifices be exploited by party operatives for the sake of a power struggle. The CJP repeatedly distanced itself from purely political matters. They sought to exert pressure to secure specific decisions, and once those were made, the uprising subsided. 

Everyone still remembers the previous, years-long wave of similar protests in the early 2010s. That wave led to the INC’s election defeat and the BJP’s rise to power, while the anti-corruption movement ultimately transformed into a new political party, AAP. It appears the CJP doesn’t wish to follow that path. 

Addressing the issuesnecessitates the Modi government establishing dozens of high-quality new universities, radically raising the standards of hundreds of existing ones, and identifying a select few capable of competing with the world’s top institutions. At the same time, corruption and a host of other systemic ills must be eliminated. Only such sweeping reforms can—in the long run—remedy the situation and propel India to the status of a leading global power. 

The government has signalled an intention to reform the examination system. If Modi’s team goes beyond this reform—which is merely cosmetic given the scale of the challenge—and presents a comprehensive restructuring package, it could actually benefit from the CJP protests; this is especially likely given that the “cockroaches” themselves, currently focusing on rural education (an area also in need of change), appear willing to cooperate. However, at present, no one has a vision for such an extensive reform programme. Neither the government nor the opposition. 

At the height of the protests, some commentators suggested the situation might lead to fall of the government and the opposition’s rise to power--much like what happened during the “Generation Z revolutions” in neighbouring Bangladesh and Nepal. However, there were no indications this would occur. The BJP remains highly popular and has no intention of relinquishing power; the protesters’ goal was not to topple the government, the opposition wasinitially reluctant to get involved, and India’s security apparatus and “deep state” are incomparably stronger and more professional than those of the aforementioned countries. 

If the Indian government implements—or at least initiates—a genuine reform programme, it will regain public trust that has been eroded; conversely, if it settles for mere personnel changes and minor adjustments, the problems facing the youth will worsen, potentially sparking further protests that are larger and more radical in nature.---INFA 

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)