The illusion of flawless governance in the Hindi Heartland was violently shattered yesterday. Across major districts—from the state capital of Lucknow to the educational hubs of Prayagraj, Varanasi, and Azamgarh—tens of thousands of young students took to the streets.
The widespread UP NEET demonstration seemed more like raw and vivid venting of a generation worn down by the burden of expectations. In this context, such youth were not even asking for freebie; they were desperately pleading to get back the system of merit which with exposing the blame for the catastrophic examination leak that wiped out the ambitions of over 70 lakh applicants, would be the only way to get the trust of these 70 lakh youth.
A report has indicated that a “Mainstream State” was predictably authoritarian in the situation. There, police stopped activists of the Bhim Army and other student groups by force while they were trying to hold up a peaceful protest demonstration in front of the Governor’s house. In Prayagraj Sanyukt Chhatra Manch members also met police at their demonstrations to re-score the UPSSSC PET cutoff at a level that is just.
This very authoritarian administrative behavior reveals a grave inconsistency. The government of the state keeps on glorifying its “Zero Tolerance” policy against criminal gangs and famously relies on the visuals of “Bulldoze Justice.” But when it comes to dealing with “Education Mafia” a problem that is deeply rooted, protesting students in Prayagraj say that this criminal network runs a parallel syndicate with a valuation reaching up to 50,000 (fifty thousand)Crore, the officials are completely helpless. The bulldozers are nowhere to be seen when the real villains are inside the lucrative corridors of examination boards and coaching cartels.
The UP NEET protest is an indication of the breakdown of the very social contract and a big betrayal of the Bahujan youth and other non-reserved (General Category) middle-class taxpayers etc. The young students have to work hard for years with very few breaks and the money of the parents to go to a good coaching school and get a good result while they also pay heavy taxes. For their sacrifice, the result was the exam questions being leaked and a Union Education Minister refusing to step down and then when they questioned the system it turned into a batton charge.
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What’s more, as it was correctly pointed out by one of the protesting BA undergrads from Ghazipur, the paper leaks are nothing but symptoms of a bigger macroeconomic disease, viz. job scarcity. The “Trillion-Dollar Economy” storyline doesn’t stand the test of reality since the state has not succeeded in creating genuine private sector jobs and millions have been left with the option of pretending that they are employed.
As Uttar Pradesh marches toward the 2027 Assembly Elections, the political elite must realize that they cannot lathi-charge their way out of a demographic crisis. A government that treats its educated youth as a security threat rather than its greatest asset has fundamentally lost its moral authority to govern.
