India is facing a deepening employment crisis among its youth despite a dramatic rise in education levels, with nearly two-thirds of graduates in 2023 found to be without work — up sharply from 13% in 1983, when far fewer young people held degrees. Protests over exam paper leaks recently forced the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, highlighting broader frustration with a system that produces millions of graduates each year but fails to match them with adequate jobs; research from Azim Premji University (a prominent Indian policy research institution) found that between 2004 and 2023, roughly five million graduates entered the workforce annually but only 2.8 million found employment. Economists warn that stagnant real wages, a shrinking manufacturing sector, the disruption of India's once-prized software industry by artificial intelligence, and a structurally weak labour market together pose a long-term governance challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, with one analyst cautioning that a generation unable to surpass their parents' living standards could prove a "disaster" for the country.