AISA chief Neha Bora to lead nationwide ‘Gen Z Rising’ campaign

AISA will launch its month-long "Gen Z Rising" campaign from Ranchi on August 7, with national president Neha Bora leading nationwide outreach on education reforms, employment and student issues following the recent Jantar Mantar protest over alleged NEET UG 2026 irregularities

New Delhi: Left-wing outfit All India Students’ Association (AISA) on Thursday announced plans to take the message of the recent Jantar Mantar protest to other states by organising a month-long “Gen Z Rising” campaign from Friday.

The peaceful “Gen Z Rising” countryside tour movement will be anchored by AISA All India president Neha Bora to demand reform in the education sector following the removal of Dharmendra Pradhan as the Union Education Minister in the backdrop of the NEET UG 2026 irregularities, the student organisation said in a statement.

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Starting from Ranchi on August 7, Neha will go on a country-wide tour to various centres in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and other states to organise and interact with the student-youth population, she said.

“Taking forward the message of Jantar Mantar and the spirit of Young India through their peaceful protests. AISA is launching “Gen Z Rising” to celebrate, continue and consolidate the student movement in different parts of the country,” said AISA in a statement.

Neha will be joined by various fellow hunger strikers and leaders of the movement, including Danish Ali, Manish, Aameen Amitoj and others.

The AISA aims to renew and intensify the struggle by taking up the demands for abolishing the National Testing Agency; repealing the National Education Policy and demanding quality education and employment for the youth, said the statement.

According to the calendar of the first leg of “Gen Z Rising”, Neha will lead an event on August 11 in Kolkata, August 14 in Jaipur, August 16 and 17 in Hyderabad, August 18 in Vijayawada, August 20 in Chennai, August 22 in Calicut, August 23 in Bengaluru, August 25 in Mumbai, August 26 in Pune, August 27 in Nagpur and August 29 in Bhubaneswar.

The calendar covering states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana shall be released later, said the statement.

The AISA said that the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) estimates that out of the 378 million Indians in the 15-29 years age group, 128 million would work if they got a job, but only 83 million are employed.

“Making the unemployment rate a 35 per cent! Similarly, seven years ago the urban unemployment rate for those in the 20-24 age group was 45 per cent. Today, it has crossed 50 per cent. Back then, the unemployment rate for those in the 25-29 age bracket was 15 per cent. Now, it is more than 20 per cent,” said the statement.

“We are witnessing today an unemployment crisis like never before witnessed in the history of this country. Most of the jobs have been entirely made contractual, and there are further attempts to crack down on worker rights through policies such as the labour codes of 2025,” it said.