The insolence of office of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan who belatedly resigned his office following a sustained campaign on social media, was astonishing. For almost a month, he failed to respond to the fast unto death protest of globally renowned educator Sonam Wangchuk. Wangchuk had made common cause with students grouped under the umbrella of the newly formed Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), demanding accountability for leakage of NEET-UG exam papers which determine the eligibility of 2.2 million school-leavers who wrote this national medical college entrance exam this year, and also for the CBSE-OSM (on-screen marking) scandal that greatly inconvenienced 1.6 lakh higher secondary students countrywide. CJP and Wangchuk’s demand for accountability is nothing if not justified. Millions of students slaved all year long, paid for supplementary tuition and studied long hours for admission into the woefully inadequate medical (823) and dental (330) colleges across the country.

Moreover, the qualifications and credentials of the people voicing this demand has to be taken into consideration. Even if the CJP whose hitherto Boston-based convenor Abhijit Dipke has built up an online following of 24 million in a few weeks, is dismissed as a hastily assembled group of agitators and anarchists, Wangchuk is the highly respected promoter-director of the Leh (Ladakh)-based Himalayan Institute of Alternatives (estb.2017), a higher education institution that offers Arts, Science and Commerce degrees with environment sustainability incorporated into their curriculums. That Pradhan sat tight in his office while an individual of high eminence and national value fasted for 28 days to the edge of death before being forcibly hospitalised in Delhi, is telling evidence of insensitivity of the highest order.

That Pradhan is oblivious of accountability and grammar of democratic politics is also evidenced by his adamant refusal for five years since he was appointed education minister, to grant an interview to EducationWorld despite repeated entreaties. Such an education minister sets a very bad example for children and youth. Thank God, he’s gone!