Sunil Negi
In a major cabinet reshuffle triggered by growing public pressure over examination irregularities, senior BJP leader and former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Consumer Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, has been appointed as the new Union Minister of Education, succeeding Dharmendra Pradhan.
The announcement came late Friday evening, hours after a letter purportedly signed by Pradhan citing “moral responsibility” over the NEET-UG controversy went viral, though the government officially confirmed the resignation quite late before it appearing in social media platforms, electronic media massively .
Dharmendra Pradhan’s tenure as Education Minister, which began in 2021, was marked by the ambitious rollout of the National Education Policy 2020.
An engineer by training and a three-time MP from Sambalpur, Odisha, Pradhan was seen as a key architect in pushing for digital education, skill development, and the expansion of IITs and IIMs.
However, his last year in office was dominated by protests and political attacks following allegations of paper leaks and irregularities in NEET-UG and other national-level entrance exams. Opposition parties, student bodies and civil society groups alleged that the National Testing Agency had failed to ensure transparency, leading to widespread protests across Delhi, Patna, Jaipur and other cities.
The unrest intensified after reports of 22 student suicides linked to exam stress and alleged malpractices were cited in Parliament and on social media. Pradhan, in his farewell note, took responsibility for the “trust deficit” and said that protecting the future of 20 lakh aspirants must come before any individual position. Government sources said the Prime Minister accepted the resignation to send a clear message of accountability ahead of the upcoming parliamentary session.
Stepping into this charged environment is Pralhad Joshi, a six-time MP from Dharwad, Karnataka, and one of the BJP’s most experienced parliamentarians.
Joshi, 62, holds a degree in Arts and has a long association with the RSS and ABVP during his student days, giving him direct experience of campus politics. As former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, he was known for steering contentious bills through both Houses and maintaining dialogue with the opposition.
He also handled the Consumer Affairs portfolio, where he focused on transparency in pricing and digital grievance redressal. Joshi does not come from an education background, but party leaders believe his skills in consensus-building and administration are what the ministry needs at this moment.
The challenges before the new minister are immediate and complex. First, he will have to restore credibility in the examination system. Demands to disband or overhaul the NTA have only grown louder, with the CPI(M), Congress and various student unions calling for decentralization of entrance tests and greater state involvement. Second, the implementation of NEP 2020 remains uneven across states.
While some states have moved ahead with curriculum changes and vocational integration, others have opposed key provisions, calling them centralizing.
Joshi will need to bring chief ministers and education ministers on board for a coordinated rollout.
Third, the issue of coaching mafia, commercialization of education and rising student debt has become a political flashpoint.
The opposition has linked these to the broader discontent among youth and has made education reform a central poll issue.
In his first remarks after taking charge, Joshi said his priority would be “student first, transparency first.”
He promised a review of all examination processes, wider consultations with teachers, students and state governments, and strict action against those involved in malpractices.
He also indicated that the government would consider a hybrid model for entrance exams, moving gradually toward computer-based testing while retaining options for students in remote areas.
With Parliament set to convene next week, all eyes will be on how Joshi navigates both the administrative cleanup and the political heat. For a ministry that shapes the future of over 25 crore students, the new minister inherits not just a portfolio, but the burden of restoring faith in India’s education system.
