New Delhi: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday assumed charge as the Union Minister for Education and immediately chaired his first review meeting with senior officials of the Ministry, a day after being entrusted with the portfolio following the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan.
Joshi was assigned the additional charge of the Ministry of Education after President Droupadi Murmu accepted Pradhan’s resignation from the Union Council of Ministers with immediate effect on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to an official statement issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan, Joshi will continue to hold his existing portfolios of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New and Renewable Energy in addition to the Education Ministry.
Soon after taking change, Joshi chaired a review meeting of the Ministry in which he reviewed the implementation of various Schemes and other initiatives. Union Minister of State of Education Shri Jayant Chaudhary also attended the review meeting.
Sharing the development on social media platform X, Joshi thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for entrusting him with the responsibility.
“Today, I assumed charge as the Union Minister for Education. I am grateful to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji for placing his faith in me and entrusting me with this responsibility. I accept it with humility and a deep sense of duty,” he wrote.
The leadership change comes in the wake of weeks of nationwide protests over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, particularly the NEET paper leak controversy, which culminated in Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation on Saturday.
In his resignation message, Pradhan said he had stepped down in the interest of students and to ensure that the ongoing protests were not exploited by “anti-national forces.”
Meanwhile, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which spearheaded the month-long agitation at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, announced the withdrawal of its 37-day protest after the Centre accepted its key demand for Pradhan’s resignation and provided assurances on other issues raised by the protesters.
While welcoming the change in leadership, students involved in the agitation said they now expect the new Education Minister to focus on structural reforms rather than limiting the response to a change of guard.
Several students participating in the protest said the government’s priority should now be to restore public confidence in the examination system through greater transparency and accountability.
Students also reiterated demands for affordable and quality education, greater transparency in examinations and admissions, and stronger investment in government schools and primary education.
The student movement has consistently maintained that the resignation of the former Education Minister marks only the beginning of a broader campaign for reforms aimed at making India’s education system more transparent, equitable and accountable.
With Pralhad Joshi now at the helm of the Education Ministry, attention will be on the Centre’s next steps to address the concerns raised by students and implement reforms to strengthen the integrity of the country’s examination system.
