Guwahati: Today, the Centre has made a big organizational reshuffle in the Ministry of Education in the wake of nationwide protests against alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG examination, eliminating Vineet Joshi from the secretariat of the Department of Higher Education.
According to an official order published on Thrusday, Naresh Pal Gangwar, 1994 batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, has been appointed the Higher Education Secretary. He will be replacing Joshi, who was transferred to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as its Secretary, replacing Vivek Bhardwaj who will retire on 31st July.
Gangwar was earlier serving as the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. He holds degrees from IIT Roorkee, IIT Delhi and University of Rajasthan.
T.K. Anil Kumar has also been appointed Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy. Joshi was acting in the absence of the post, which was vacant since Sanjay Kumar had retired on 30th June.
The reshuffle is part of a series of changes in personnel at the center in the wake of nationwide protests against the alleged NEET paper leak, which have demanded more accountability and reforms in the examination system. Meanwhile, a fast-track court has been set up by the Delhi High Court to exclusively hear examination paper leak cases under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act 2024 with a punishment of up to five years imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh.
Students and youth groups are also protesting at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi, where they have also raised concerns over unemployment and alleged flaws in the country's examination and evaluation system.