Ford School professor Yusuf Neggers, who is affiliated with the Center for South Asian Studies discusses the youth-led protests in India amid back-to-back education scandals, related to the NEET examination paper leaks, technical glitches and canceled tests that impacted more than 2 million students who took the exam.
Neggers's research examines questions at the intersection of political economy and economic development, with a focus on political accountability, state capacity and the delivery of public services.
"What began as a satirical online movement two months ago has grown into one of India's largest student protests in years, much like the farmers' sit-ins outside Delhi in 2020-2021 grew from local grievances into a sustained national reckoning," Neggers said. "Together, these movements show that when the public is willing to organize and sustain pressure between elections, protest becomes a vital mechanism for holding leaders accountable to citizens' needs, and one that repression efforts alone rarely succeed in extinguishing."
