India's education minister resigns after youth protests

India's Education Minister Dharmandra Pradhan said on Saturday he had resigned from his position, handing a major victory to youth protesters nationwide who demanded that he quit to take responsibility over examination paper leaks.

The minister announced his resignation on X just as police fired tear gas to scatter young protesters in the Indian capital, hours before their leaders were set to hold another round of talks with ministers to push for the move.

The youth protests represent the biggest youth challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came to power in 2014, their demands echoed by opposition parties, which disrupted parliament's monsoon session that began this week.

Thousands of supporters of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) rallied in central Delhi despite the fourth day of closure of the city's 18 metro stations, as authorities tried to limit access to the protest site.

Anger has boiled over since police cracked down on Monday, injuring many students after they launched baton charges and fired tear gas to deter tens of thousands of protesters marching on parliament.

The protests, led largely by young people, reflect anger over job scarcity, corruption and government accountability, widening since they were unleashed by discontent over leaks of question-papers for high-stakes entrance exams.

At Friday's talks, party representatives Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka warned federal ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh the protests could spread unless Pradhan stepped down.

Those talks came hours after activist Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike, raising hopes for a breakthrough.

The government extended a mobile internet shutdown in the area for the fifth straight day on Saturday, two sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Protesters aired frustration over the extended shutdown but vowed not to let it weaken their movement.

The protests were galvanised by leaks of question papers for medical school entrance examinations that forced more than 2 million candidates to retake tests, exposing shortcomings in the education system.