New Delhi: The Students' Federation of India (SFI) on Monday organised a ceremony in Delhi to honour those who participated in the recently concluded nationwide movement over alleged examination irregularities and described it as a "historic victory".
The event, held at HKS Surjeet Bhawan, honoured activists who participated in the month-long protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the resignation of former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. It also recognised those who undertook hunger strikes and sustained injuries during the police action on protesters.
SFI organisers said that former Olympian wrestler Bajrang Punia, former Indian volleyball player Jagmati Sangwan and actor and CJP spokesperson Sudhir Sangwan attended the programme.
The event came a day after SFI Delhi University, along with other progressive student organisations, held a "Victory Rally" from the Arts Faculty in North Campus to Vijay Nagar to celebrate what it termed the successful culmination of the nationwide student movement.
In a statement, SFI claimed the 40-day agitation brought together students, youth, parents and other sections of society over repeated paper leaks, examination irregularities and concerns regarding the education system.
The organisation said it had organised more than 1,000 protests across the country and abroad during the movement, alleging that over 1,000 of its activists were detained or arrested while participating in demonstrations.
Calling Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation a victory for students' collective struggle, SFI said the movement had demonstrated that sustained democratic protests could compel governments to respond to public demands.
However, the organisation said the resignation of the minister was "only one milestone" and reiterated that its campaign would continue until its broader demands, including the scrapping of the National Testing Agency (NTA), withdrawal of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and structural reforms in public education, are addressed.
The nationwide protests had begun following the cancellation of NEET-UG 2026 amid allegations of a paper leak and later expanded into a broader movement demanding accountability for examination-related irregularities, leading to Pradhan's resignation on July 25.
