The protests, led by thousands of NEET UG aspirants and students seeking greater transparency and accountability in medical entrance examinations, have drawn large crowds to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar over the past few days. 

Young people from across the country have travelled to the capital, gathering with placards, water bottles and backpacks in hand, united by a common cause.

Large public gatherings mostly leave behind another, less talked-about reality. Once the crowds disperse, roads and pavements are usually littered with plastic bottles, paper cups, food wrappers and discarded banners, leaving sanitation workers to clean up the aftermath.

But this time, a different story received attention.

The morning after the gathering, a group of Gen Z protesters returned to Jantar Mantar carrying brooms, garbage bags and gloves. Instead of walking away from the litter, they swept the roads, collected waste and cleaned the public space they had used just hours earlier.

According to Mint, videos of the clean-up quickly went viral, with many people praising the youngsters for taking responsibility instead of expecting someone else to do it. The volunteers were seen filling garbage bags with plastic bottles, paper waste and food packaging, working together until the area looked visibly cleaner.

For many, those few minutes of sweeping became one of the most memorable images from the gathering.

When civic sense takes centre stage

In India, conversations around cleanliness usually begin with government campaigns or municipal........

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