Centre Transfers Education Secretary Vineet Joshi Amid NEET Row; Naresh Pal Gangwar Appointed as Successor
The Central Government has transferred Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as part of a major bureaucratic reshuffle. Naresh Pal Gangwar has been appointed as the new Higher Education Secretary. The move comes amid ongoing nationwide protests over the alleged NEET paper leak, though the government has not officially linked the transfer to the controversy.
In a significant bureaucratic reshuffle, the Centre has transferred Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and appointed Naresh Pal Gangwar, a 1994-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, as the new Secretary of the Department of Higher Education. The appointments were approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
The reshuffle comes at a time when the Ministry of Education is under intense public and political scrutiny over the alleged NEET 2026 paper leak and the nationwide protests demanding reforms in the examination system. While the timing has drawn attention, the government has not stated that the transfer is related to the ongoing controversy.
Vineet Joshi is a 1992-batch IAS officer of the Manipur cadre and has held several key positions in India's education sector. Before becoming Higher Education Secretary, he served as:
•Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
•Director General of the National Testing Agency (NTA)
•Chief Secretary of Manipur
•Acting Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC)
His successor, Naresh Pal Gangwar, previously served as Secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. He will now oversee higher education policy and examination-related reforms at a time when the government faces growing demands to restore confidence in India's public examination system.
The bureaucratic reshuffle also includes changes in the Ministry of Education's School Education Department, signalling a broader administrative restructuring as the government continues to implement education reforms while addressing concerns over examination integrity.