Union Minister Pralhad Joshi was appointed as the new Education Minister on Saturday following the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan. Joshi, who currently heads the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, has been given the additional charge of the Ministry of Education.
The development comes after President Droupadi Murmu accepted Pradhan’s resignation. The President has directed that Joshi, a Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Education in addition to his existing portfolio.
“The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of Shri Dharmendra Pradhan from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect, under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution of India,” the official notification read.
“Further, as advised by the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Shri Pralhad Joshi, Cabinet Minister, be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Education, in addition to his existing portfolio,” the notification added.
Who Is Pralhad Joshi?
A five-time Member of Parliament from Karnataka’s Dharwad constituency, Joshi is among the BJP’s most experienced parliamentarians and has held several key portfolios in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Since June 2024, Joshi has been serving as the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, while also handling the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. In these roles, he oversees India’s public food security systems, consumer rights and the green energy transition.
Between May 2019 and June 2024, Joshi served as the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines. During his tenure, he played a key role in steering legislative business in Parliament and oversaw significant policy reforms in the coal and mining sectors.
Joshi has represented the Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency continuously since 2004, winning five consecutive elections in 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024.
Dharmendra Pradhan Resigns
Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday tendered his resignation as the Union Education Minister amid the ongoing protests over the NEET paper leak. In a letter, Pradhan said that he has sent his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, considering the ongoing situation involving the students.
“I took responsibility of NEET paper leak from day one,” he said in the letter posted on X. It has never been a “matter of personal prestige for him,” the letter read.
In his resignation letter, Pradhan stated that he was stepping down in the larger interest of students to ensure that the country’s youth do not become “trapped in a web of confusion”.
“To ensure that anti-national elements are not benefited by the situation at Jantar Mantar and across the country, that the nation remains united, students in India do not get tangled in legal complexities and focus on their studies and their career, I have tendered my resignation to the Prime Minister,” read the letter.