INDIA’S “Cockroach” movement called off its weeks of protests on Saturday after the country’s education minister resigned over alleged exam-paper leaks and irregularities in the education system.

Dharmendra Pradhan announced his resignation, handing a major victory to the youth movement that spearheaded nationwide demonstrations, sit-ins and hunger strikes.

The country’s coalition government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s far-right BJP has rarely yielded to public pressure in more than 12 years in office. The most notable exception came in 2021 when it withdrew controversial farm laws after a year-long farmers’ protest.

The Cockroach movement started more than a month ago as a call for education reforms but grew into a broader protest over unemployment, government accountability and economic opportunities. Students, professionals, families and activists joined rallies across India.

Following Mr Pradhan’s resignation, movement organisers called off the protests, saying the government had accepted their remaining demands.

Those included broader reforms to India’s education system, compensation for families of students who died by suicide after exam-paper leaks and a commitment that no legal action would be taken against those who took part in the protests.

“We urge everyone to peacefully withdraw from protest sites,” said Cockroach Janta Party spokesman Ashutosh Ranka.

News of Mr Pradhan’s resignation sparked celebrations among the thousands of protesters who have camped at New Delhi’s protest site for more than a month.

Prachi Kumar, a corporate employee who joined the protests, said Mr Pradhan’s resignation was necessary to restore accountability in the education system.

“This had to be done. Someone must be held accountable,” she said.

Last week several protesters were injured as the police launched tear gas and attacked marchers with batons as they headed toward the parliament building in New Delhi.

Mr Modi’s government had earlier sought to ease tensions by announcing fast-track courts for cases involving exam-paper leaks and promising legislation to strengthen measures against cheating and corruption in the exam system, but the measures failed to satisfy protesters, who said they did not address government accountability.

Rahul Gandhi, India’s main opposition leader in parliament, said the government had bowed to sustained public pressure and called the government’s climbdown a “major step toward revamping our education system.”