New Education Minister – Prahlad Joshi will take over the education ministry after Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation amid NEET controversy.

New Education Minister – After the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the responsibility of the Education Ministry has now been handed over to Prahlad Joshi. On the advice of the Prime Minister, the President has approved giving him additional charge of the Education Ministry. However, he will also continue to hold the responsibilities of the ministries of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New and Renewable Energy. That is, for the time being, along with his current work, he will also handle the work of the Education Ministry.

According to the notification issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan, Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation has been accepted with immediate effect. This decision has been taken at a time when the student movement that started over irregularities in the NEET-UG examination was in the news.

Student movement started due to NEET controversy

This entire incident started on 3 May 2026, when allegations of paper leak and rigging came to light after the NEET-UG examination. Students raised questions on the fairness of the examination. Gradually this issue moved from social media to a big student movement.

This demonstration, which started at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, continued for 35 days. The main demand of the students was that transparency should be brought in the examination system and action should be taken against the culprits. Pradhan’s resignation was their main demand, which was raised by the group led by Abhijit Deepke (Boston University graduate).

Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation

Dharmendra Pradhan, 57, in his resignation letter said he took the step in the interest of students and to ensure that the ongoing protests are not taken advantage of by ‘anti-national forces’.

“For more than four decades, I have dedicated myself to the cause of students, teachers and educational reforms. I have always believed that an empowered, inclusive and visionary education system is the cornerstone of a strong nation,” he wrote in his letter.

What are the challenges before Prahlad Joshi?

Prahlad Joshi is taking charge of the Education Ministry at a time when the biggest challenge is to restore confidence in the country’s examination system. Joshi, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka’s Dharwad, will face the following tasks:

Restructuring of National Testing Agency (NTA): The government has already taken action to remove 47 officers in NTA.

Transparency in examinations: There are preparations to bring big examinations like NEET-UG in computer-based format.

Implementation of NEP 2020: Full implementation of the National Education Policy 2020, including the new curriculum and new NCERT books.

Improvement in school education: The proposal to conduct board examinations of class 10th and 12th twice a year is also to be taken forward.

What happened after resignation?

Hours after Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, CJP spokespersons Sourav Das and Ashutosh Ranka announced at a joint press conference with Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh that they had ended the protest in ‘good faith’ after the government’s guarantee.

Conclusion

With the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan and the handing over of additional charge of the Education Ministry to Prahlad Joshi, the NEET-UG paper leak controversy has come to an end. Pradhan’s resignation came after persistent demands from students, while Joshi now faces major challenges of reforming the examination system, implementation of NEP 2020 and restoring the confidence of students. The tenure of the new Education Minister may prove to be a turning point for the Indian education system. Stay tuned to timesbull.com for more such political and government news.