Volunteers cleaning the protest site, after their demands were met at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on Saturday. Express photo by Abhinav SahaAs Bollywood songs blared, supporters hugged each other, clicked selfies and danced to celebrate Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation on Saturday, hundreds of volunteers at Jantar Mantar quietly formed a human chain, slipped on gloves and began cleaning the protest site people had occupied for over a month.Outside Gate 2 of the Jantar Mantar Metro station, which was opened after the protest was withdrawn by the CJP, a volunteer in a green reflective jacket called out to those celebrating – “We all know how to clean. Could you please step inside (the human chain)?”Within minutes, the human chain stretched across the road, as volunteers swept the streets and put litter into black garbage bags even as a pungent smell lingered in the air.Akansha (30) has left her two-year-old daughter at home to join the clean-up.“My husband is supportive but I had to fight with my family to come here… I am not a GenZ, but a Millennial. But my daughter will be entering the education system now. I am here to support her,” she said. Volunteers cleaning the protest site, after their demands were met at Jantar Mantar. Express photo by Abhinav Saha“My husband was asking, did I fight with the family to only come here and clean? I said ‘we have littered the area, we need to clean up’,” she added.Nearby, corporate professional Hemant Chanda (24), originally from Hyderabad and now working in Delhi, has picked up a broom. “I feel very happy, though it’s the first step… We need to do many more things… I can clean and that’s what I am doing,” he said.Story continues below this adA few metres away, Kushwant Arya (29), is also on a cleaning spree.A Gurgaon resident who has cleared the JEE and now works as a director for a US-based company, said, “This is my second weekend at the protest site. Feeling good… not as cheerful as the people around me, but hopeful that this country has the potential to change.”“Only because the youth has energy, it doesn’t mean that things will only change when the come out on the streets to protest,” he added.Arya believes that everyone should get equal opportunity when it comes to appearing for competitive examinations, irrespective of their economic and social background.Story continues below this ad“There’s a larger system involved in the leak… I have been fortunate enough to clear a competitive examination… It was life-changing for me. My perspective changed. Every child should receive this kind of opportunity,” he added.Around him, as the sun set, a seven-year-old boy who had come to the protest site with his mother, let go of her hand and stepped into the human chain. He joined the adults in sweeping the road – a quiet end to a day of loud celebrations.