As protests against the NEET paper “leak” flared up, the Centre on Thursday shifted Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and appointed new officials to top positions in both the school education and higher education departments.
Joshi was also holding the charge of school education secretary after Sanjay Kumar retired from the post on June 30. He was also the acting chairperson of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
According to officials, Joshi will now be posted as the secretary in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
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 the secretary in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, while Kumar was the additional secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development.
The Ministry of Education has been at the centre of a controversy due to the alleged NEET paper leak and irregularities in the CBSE’s evaluation of board exams.
Joshi has previously served as the director general of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). He was appointed as the chief secretary in Manipur after the situation in the wake of an ethnic conflict escalated in the northeastern state in 2023.
The opposition has been demanding a discussion on the NEET paper-leak issue in Parliament and seeking Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the handling of the controversy.
CJP delegation will meet with govt ministers on Friday
A delegation of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) will meet with government ministers on Friday, sources said.
The meeting will take place at 12.30 pm, but its venue has not been disclosed.
This comes after intense backroom negotiations to end the deadlock over the NEET paper leak, the sources said.
The CJP has been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar here over the NEET paper leak, demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and an overhaul of education system.
Delhi HC notifies designated court to deal with criminal cases arising from exam paper leaks
The Delhi High Court on Thursday notified a designated court to deal with criminal cases arising from paper leaks as well as the use of other unfair means in public examinations.
The move comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on Thursday that fast-track courts would be set up to swiftly deal with cases of paper leaks.
In a notification, the high court administration said judicial officer Anu Grover Baliga’s court shall function as a “Specially Designated Fast Track Court” to try offences under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 and connected offences, from immediate effect.
The special court will function from the Rouse Avenue Court Complex.
Earlier in the day, amid continuing protests by students over the NEET paper leak, Prime Minister Modi said the welfare and interest of the country’s youth are the government’s top priority, and anyone trying to harm their future will not be spared.
Modi said the government decided to set up fast-track courts to ensure swift and stringent punishment for those involved in paper leaks.
He said he has directed the concerned authorities and officials to take all necessary steps on the issue of paper leaks.
