Union Minister Pralhad Joshi was on Saturday assigned additional charge of the Ministry of Education after President Droupadi Murmu accepted the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan from the Union Council of Ministers with immediate effect.
According to a notification issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President accepted Pradhan’s resignation under Article 75(2) of the Constitution on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The President also directed that Pralhad Joshi would take charge of the Ministry of Education in addition to his existing portfolios.
Joshi, the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and New and Renewable Energy, will continue to hold his current responsibilities while overseeing the Education Ministry. He had earlier served as Union Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs.
Dharmendra Pradhan announced his resignation, stating that he had stepped down in the interest of students and to ensure that the ongoing protests over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations were not exploited by “anti-national forces.”
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His resignation follows weeks of nationwide student protests over the alleged NEET paper leak and demands for greater transparency, accountability and reforms in the country’s examination system.
Meanwhile, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which had been staging a 37-day protest at Jantar Mantar, announced the withdrawal of its agitation after Pradhan’s resignation and following assurances from the Centre on several of its demands.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, CJP chief spokesperson Saurav Das said the organisation was ending its protest in “good faith” with the expectation that the agreed commitments would be implemented within the stipulated timelines.
Following the third round of talks with Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, the organisation said the Centre had agreed to provide appropriate compensation to the families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide and assured that FIRs registered against protesters across the country would be withdrawn.
Union Minister JP Nadda also stated that the government had accepted the key demands raised by the organisation and would examine its five-point charter on examination reforms before taking further action after detailed consultations. (with ANI inputs)
