Centre Replaces Education Secretary Amid NEET Protests, Announces Major Bureaucratic Reshuffle

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday carried out a major bureaucratic reshuffle, effecting 13 secretary-level appointments across ministries and departments, including key changes in the education ministry, amid continuing protests over the alleged NEET paper leak. Senior IAS officer Naresh Pal Gangwar has been appointed as secretary of the department of higher education and T K Anil Kumar as secretary of the department of school education and literacy, amid continuing protests over the alleged NEET paper leak. According to an order issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), Gangwar, a 1994-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, will replace Vineet Joshi as secretary of the department of higher education. Joshi, a 1992-batch IAS officer of the Manipur cadre, has been appointed secretary in the ministry of panchayati raj. Gangwar was serving as secretary in the department of animal husbandry and dairying under the ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying. An engineer by training, he holds a BTech in Electronics and Communication from the University of Roorkee, an MTech in Communication from IIT Delhi, and an MA in Economics from the University of Rajasthan. He has previously served in several senior positions in the Rajasthan government and the Centre, including principal secretary in Rajasthan and joint secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The ACC also appointed T K Anil Kumar, a 1996-batch IAS officer of the Karnataka cadre and additional secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development, as secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy. The government order did not cite any reason for the appointments. The reshuffle comes amid continuing protests by the CJP and students over the alleged irregularities in the NEET examination, with demonstrators demanding accountability and reforms in the examination system. Notably, the reshuffle went well beyond the education ministry. Katikithala Srinivas moves from housing and urban affairs to head the ministry of development of north eastern region, while Piyush Goyal shifts from secretary, ministry of mines, to secretary general of the national human rights commission; with Keshav Chandra taking over at Mines. In animal husbandry and dairying, vacated by Gangwar's move, Sushil Kumar Lohani has been posted as Officer on Special Duty before formally taking over as Secretary. Other new appointments include D. Thara at the Department of Capital Development (Housing and Urban Affairs), Chandra Bhushan Kumar at Labour and Employment, Satendra Singh at Urban Development, and Suchindra Misra at the National Commission for Minorities. The ACC also approved in-situ upgradation to Special Secretary rank, with Secretary-level pay, for four officers in their current postings: Mritunjay Kumar Narayan (Registrar General of India), Santosh Kumar Yadav (Chairman, NHAI), Rajeev Singh Thakur (Adviser, NITI Aayog), and Dilip Kumar (DG Training, Skill Development Ministry).