New Delhi: The Union education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, resigned from the Union council of ministers on Saturday, submitting his resignation letter to the prime minister, Narendra Modi, after weeks of nationwide protests over irregularities in the NEET-UG 2026 medical entrance examination. Pradhan announced the decision on X, saying he did not want the country’s youth to be caught in a “web of confusion” arising from the unrest, and that he hoped the situation would not be exploited by forces working against national interest.
He described the move as one of principle rather than personal reputation.
The resignation marks the biggest concession yet from the government to one of India’s largest student-led movements in recent years, and comes as the organic protests, organized mainly under the banner of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), reached their peak at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
The demonstrations began after allegations surfaced that the NEET-UG 2026 question paper had been compromised, prompting outrage among the more than two million students who sit the examination each year for admission to medical colleges.
The activist Sonam Wangchuk had been on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar for 26 days in support of the protesters’ demands, one of which was Pradhan’s resignation. Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the CJP, a movement that grew out of the protests, told supporters gathered at the site that the resignation was “a victory of peace, patience and perseverance”, a phrase Wangchuk also used to describe the outcome on X.
Police used tear gas to disperse crowds at the protest site on Saturday, hours before protest leaders were due to hold another round of talks with federal ministers, according to reports from the scene.
Re-examination and CBI probe
The government had earlier ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the leak allegations and cancelled the original examination. A re-test involving more than two million candidates was held on June 21, coordinated between central and state authorities. Results were declared on July 16.
Officials have said the outcome was satisfactory, with many candidates from economically weaker backgrounds performing well in the re-test. Pradhan said he had personally taken responsibility for the matter from the outset rather than stepping back from it.
Authorities have also announced that NEET will move to a computer-based test (CBT) format from next year, a change intended to reduce the risk of future paper leaks. The examination is currently conducted in pen-and-paper mode across thousands of centres nationwide, a format that has repeatedly been linked to security lapses in recent years.
Pradhan has been a member of the Union council of ministers continuously since Modi first took office in 2014, holding the petroleum and natural gas, steel, and skill development portfolios before taking charge of education in July 2021. He is a Bharatiya Janata Party member of the Lok Sabha from Sambalpur, Odisha, and previously represented Deogarh in the same state.
In his resignation letter, addressed publicly to the country’s youth, Pradhan recalled four decades of association with the education sector as a student, teacher, and policy advocate, and said he believed a transparent education system was central to a strong nation. He thanked Modi and cabinet colleagues for the opportunity to serve, and said national service would remain his priority going forward.
The Prime Minister’s Office had not, at the time of writing, announced a successor to head the education ministry.
The NEET-UG examination is the single largest gateway to undergraduate medical education in India, and controversies over its conduct have repeatedly triggered legal challenges and street protests in past years, including similar disputes in 2024.