Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns over NEET paper leak row

July 25, 2026 /Posted byPrajwal EW / 0

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned on Saturday, taking responsibility for the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.

In a statement, Pradhan said he was disturbed by the developments over the past 10 days and had submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“I took responsibility of the NEET paper leak from day one,” he said, adding that the issue was not a matter of “individual prestige” for him.

Pradhan also said anti-national forces should not be allowed to take advantage of the situation during protests at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere in the country.

His resignation comes amid protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party at Jantar Mantar, demanding accountability over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak, alleged irregularities in the CBSE’s on-screen marking process, and broader reforms in the conduct of public examinations.

Inputs from PTI

Also Read: CJI says no plea on CJP protest was filed, calls media reports inaccurate

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“If Sonam Wangchuk’s fast results only in a ministerial reshuffle, India will have reduced an extraordinary act of conviction to an ordinary political outcome. More important than replacing a Minister is building an education system worthy of our children. India has expanded access to education but missed out on excellence. As long as examinations reward memory, schools will teach memory; if they reward thinking, schools will cultivate thinkers. We need to dismantle the coaching culture, build the world’s best teachers, restore trust in government schools, and ensure educational reform outlives electoral cycles. Education must become India’s first genuinely bipartisan national mission. If this sacrifice awakens the nation to that purpose, history will remember it as the beginning of an education renaissance.”

- Gitanjali J. Angmo, The Hindu, (17/7)

"Education is the foundation upon which a democratic republic builds its future. B R Ambedkar's call to 'Educate, Agitate, Organise' remains a roadmap for an informed and egalitarian society. Over the past 12 years, the Modi government's education policy has been driven by the communalisation, commercialisation and centralisation of education, resulting in a weakening of public education and a crisis in examinations, recruitment and employment. The Ministry of Education has failed to restore confidence, while the National Testing Agency has become associated with repeated controversies, technical failures and paper leak allegations. Behind every cancelled examination lies an enormous human cost, with years of preparation and family sacrifices disappearing overnight. Dharmendra Pradhan bears ministerial responsibility for the repeated breakdown of India's examination system. The struggle is larger than one minister or one government; it is about defending education as a public good, a constitutional right and a means of nation-building rather than ideological control."

- D. Raja, The Indian Express, (21/7)

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns over NEET paper leak row

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