The republic of non-toppers is speaking up

Why in the News

The “cockroach movement” of young Indians against paper leaks and joblessness is a revolt of the non-topper majority against a theory of citizenship that rewards those who top entrance exams. The movement is widening nationalism to include rights to jobs, fair examinations and equal treatment by the state.

What theory of citizenship is being challenged?

1. The topper as citizen: Under this theory, the topper who clears entrance exams builds institutions, staffs the state and writes policy. Everyone else is a “demographic dividend gone sour”, youth who failed to deliver growth.
2. Merit as moral immunity: Credentials do not only open doors, they “close inquiries” into the holder’s conduct. An exam rank works like a lifelong character certificate, shielding even an officer engaged in petty extraction.
3. Failing merit institutions: This summer, national medical entrance results were cancelled after a paper leak affecting over two million students. Many families had sold possessions to pay coaching fees.
4. The takeaway: When the exam system itself fails, the claim that rank equals virtue collapses, and the excluded majority starts to speak for itself.

How are non-toppers reshaping politics?

1. Rejecting the prescribed route: Non-toppers now blame the route, not themselves, for their failure. They reject the toppers’ monopoly over serious political movements, and their struggle needs no heroes or ideological purity.
2. Reclaiming nationalism: Protesters carry the tricolour and claim public spaces. They stretch nationalism beyond security and cultural pride to employment, fair examinations, transparency and the right to protest.
3. Second plebeianisation: Ordinary people are entering public debate, a space elites once held, in a “second plebeianisation” of politics. The first, in the 1990s, broke the upper-caste hold on legislatures.
4. Citizen as author: The non-topper wants to be the author of policy, not its object. Citizenship becomes an active public practice, not a credential held passively.
5. Isothymia: Francis Fukuyama holds that democracy rests on isothymia, the desire to be respected as an equal. The movement claims dignity without needing a rank.

Why is the movement gaining ground now?

1. Shared labour market: Even workers in regular salaried jobs average just Rs 26,850 a month. Toppers and non-toppers increasingly face the same broken job market and indifferent state.
2. Toppers joining in: As the gap that once justified the hierarchy narrows, toppers are joining the struggle for a “new citizenship”.
3. Insult turned identity: The Chief Justice of India (CJI) used “cockroach” as an insult. Protesters adopted it, pointing to the creature’s defining trait: it survives attempts to stamp it out.

Challenges

1. Exam integrity deficit: Repeated leaks in national entrance exams erode public trust in merit-based selection itself.
2. Credentials without jobs: Degrees and ranks no longer secure stable employment, so the reward for clearing exams keeps shrinking.
3. Leaderless protest: A movement without leaders or organisation struggles to turn street pressure into policy change.
4. Dismissive official responses: Labelling young protesters with insults deepens their distance from public institutions.

Way Forward

1. Leak-proof examinations: Enforce the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 and secure the paper chain up to the exam centre.
2. Job-rich growth: Expand regular salaried work so that one exam is not the only route to security.
3. Channels for youth voice: Create consultative forums and campus elections so young people help shape the policies they protest.
4. Respectful engagement: Public authorities should respond to protesters’ demands on their merits rather than dismiss them.

Conclusion

The movement contests the idea that an exam rank decides who counts as a full citizen, and it now draws support from both sides of that divide. Whether the state answers with fair examinations and decent jobs, rather than contempt, will decide if this assertion turns into reform or lasting alienation.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2026, GS2, 15 marks] To what extent do pressure groups, social movements and corporate lobbies deepen pluralistic democracy in India by representing excluded interests? Analyse whether the growing convergence of corporate wealth and political power poses a threat to the autonomy of formal democratic institutions.”