Education Ministry reshuffles top officials amid NEET, CBSE controversies

The recent controversies surrounding the education ministry, including paper leaks and the CBSE digital evaluation glitches, have triggered a series of shunting of top officials, even as the opposition continues to demand the resignation of the minister in charge, Dharmendra Pradhan.

As student protests against the NEET-UG paper leak flared up, the Centre removed top bureaucrat Vineet Joshi as the higher education secretary late on Thursday night.

Joshi, known to be a multi-tasker and someone close to the government, has held some of the most influential positions in India’s education system, including as chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), first director-general of the National Testing Agency (NTA), and acting chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

He was also holding the charge of



school education secretary after Sanjay Kumar retired from the post on June 30.

Joshi’s tenure at the NTA saw the rollout of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for undergraduate admissions, even as he faced the backlash the government received over glitches in the crucial examination.

He was then appointed chief secretary in Manipur in 2023, when ethnic violence erupted in the northeastern state.

After his shunting as the higher education secretary, Joshi has been appointed secretary in the Panchayati Raj ministry.

While Naresh Kumar Gangwar has been appointed as the higher education secretary, T K Anil Kumar has been brought in as the school education secretary.

Gangwar was posted as secretary in the animal husbandry ministry, where he made news for different reasons.