Government replaces higher education secretary amid CJP protest 
23 Jul 2026

The central government has appointed Naresh Pal Gangwar as the new Higher Education Secretary, replacing Vineet Joshi, who assumed the position a year ago in January.

The decision was taken by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Thursday.

Gangwar, a 1994-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Rajasthan cadre, was previously serving as Secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying.

Gangwar's educational qualifications and career
Academic credentials

An engineer by training, Gangwar has a BTech in Electronics and Communication from the University of Roorkee. He also holds an MTech in Communication from IIT Delhi and an MA in Economics from the University of Rajasthan.

Over his career, he has held several key positions both at the Centre and in Rajasthan government, including Principal Secretary to the Rajasthan government and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Joshi was appointed education secretary
NEET protests

While the government gave no reason for the change, the reshuffle comes amid ongoing protests by the Cockroach Janta party (CJP) and students over alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) examination.

The protests have been demanding accountability and reforms in the examination system and, in particular, the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.