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Dharmendra Pradhan
Amid the NEET paper leak row, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should immediately sack Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan or take personal accountability, and alleged that the "BJP-RSS nexus" has destroyed India's education system. The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said the hard work of 22 lakh NEET aspirants has gone to waste. "The whole country knows that two days before NEET, its question paper was being distributed on WhatsApp. Dharmendra Pradhan ji says he has nothing to do with the matter. The (Parliamentary) Committee had made recommendations but he put it in the dustbin on the pretext that opposition people were on the committee and that it was of no use," Gandhi said in a video statement. "The truth is that you (government) have damaged the core of India. This is a nexus of the RSS, the BJP and their people that have been installed in universities, vice chancellors and professors, to mint money," the former Congress
A high-level meeting was held at the residence of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to review preparations for the fresh conduct of NEET (UG) examination, official sources said. Held late on Thursday evening, the meeting involved detailed discussions on various aspects related to the conduct of the medical entrance exam, they said. The meeting was attended by Secretary (Higher Education) Vineet Joshi, Secretary (School Education) Sanjay Kumar, Director General of the National Testing Agency (NTA) Abhishek Singh, CBSE Chairperson Rahul Singh, and the commissioners of the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), along with other senior officials. This comes after the NTA on Tuesday announced the cancellation of the May 3 examination following allegations of irregularities linked to the test. The cancellation of the exam has left over 22 lakh medical aspirants in a state of uncertainty. The fresh dates have not yet been announced. However, NTA
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday expressed anguish over NCERT coming up with a chapter on judicial corruption in its Class 8 textbook, while promising to fix accountability and take action against those involved in drafting the controversial portion. He also underlined that the government has full respect for the judiciary and has no intent of disrespecting the institution. The remarks came on a day the Supreme Court observed that there appeared to be a "well-orchestrated conspiracy" to defame the judiciary and imposed a "complete blanket ban" on the Class 8 NCERT book and ordered that all copies, physical and digital, be seized. "They have fired the gunshot. The judiciary is bleeding," a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said, a day after the National Council of Educational Research and Training apologised for "inappropriate content" in the social science textbook and said it would be rewritten in consultation with appropriate authorities. The bench,
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday urged India's youth to harness the full potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), asserting that the technology will play a pivotal role in realising the vision of a Viksit Bharat. Speaking at the AI Impact Summit, Pradhan called on the next generation to deepen their engagement with AI, strengthen teamwork, and explore the vast possibilities the technology unlocks. Pradhan said that AI presents a significant opportunity for India, as he cited the country's multi-dimensional, multicultural and multilingual facets, alongside its rich history and legacy. He noted that AI can be a powerful tool in understanding and navigating the complexities. "AI is giving us an important opportunity. We have a multi-dimensional, multi-cultural and multi-lingual, complex society, with a rich history and legacy... AI can be an important tool in understanding its complexity and multi-dimensionality," Pradhan said. The minister exhorted India's yo
The National Education Policy will be the medium to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to bring the country's new generation out of the Macaulay mentality, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday. The NEP, announced on July 29, 2020 proposes various reforms in school education as well as higher and technical education. Speaking to PTI Videos during his visit here for a programme, Pradhan said the NEP, which is in its sixth year now, will herald a paradigm shift. "Prime Minister Modi has said the country needs to come out of the Macaulay mentality. The NEP 2020 will be the medium to bring the new generation of the country out of the Macaulay mentality," he asserted. "India is a country of the youth and it is the responsibility of the education department to prepare the youth and future generations with education in mother tongue, competency based studies and skill based studies," Pradhan added. The Union minister further pitched for holistic ...
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday inaugurated the 'Viksit Bharat Buildathon', a nationwide initiative to engage students of classes 6-12 to develop innovative ideas that address real-life challenges. Set up to be the largest-ever school hackathon, it goes live with events across schools nationwide on Monday. As part of the initiative, more than one crore students from 2.5 lakh schools across the country are being mobilised to ideate, design and develop prototypes under four pre-decided themes. "The buildathon is not only a competition but a mission, a movement to encourage innovation," Pradhan said. Events related to the Buildathon are being held on Monday and the winners will be announced in December. It was launched on September 23 It is being organised by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Atal Innovation Mission. The Buildathon calls upon students studying in classes 6-12 to join teams, think creatively, and develop ideas and prototypes that address
The BJP on Thursday made important appointments for key poll-bound states, including for next year, naming Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupender Yadav as its election in-charge of Bihar and West Bengal. The party appointed Baijayant 'Jay' Panda, one of its vice presidents, its in-charge for the assembly polls in Tamil Nadu where it is a junior partner to the AIADMK. While the Bihar assembly elections are expected to be held in November, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are likely to go to polls in March-April. A BJP statement said Union minister C R Paatil, who heads the party's Gujarat unit and is considered a capable organisation hand, and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya are co-incharges for the Bihar polls. Former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb is the co-incharge for West Bengal and Union minister Murlidhar Mohol is the co-incharge for Tamil Nadu, it added. Both Pradhan and Yadav are among the most experienced poll managers of the BJP and
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said the Centre was not imposing any language on anybody. He termed those who claim that Centre imposes the three language policy on States as "politically motivated". "We are not imposing any language on anybody. For Class 1 and 2, there will be two language formula. One will be mother tongue. Here, it will be Tamil language. Government of India's condition is that you have to teach in Tamil in primary school. You can teach another language that is your choice," he said. Pradhan was speaking to reporters in the presence of professor V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, after taking part in the 'Think India Dakshinapatha Summit 2025'. Elaborating about the three language policy, he said from Class six to ten there is three language formula. "One language will be mother tongue. The rest two will be your choice. No language will be imposed by the Government of India on any State," he said. To a query on how the three language policy
The Government is considering to add skill based learning be incorporated in the curriculum of Class 11 and 12 as per the recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said here on Sunday. The Union education minister said there has to be a paradigm shift in learning methodology at the appropriate level and the National Education Policy 2020 was recommending it. "We are on the job to introduce skill based curriculum of Class 11 and 12," he said, at an event at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras here. Elaborating about the concept of including skill based learning in the curriculum, Pradhan said the earlier education system was certificate and degree focused. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly said we need degree and certification but we need to make the students competent also," he said at the Dakshinapatha Summit 2025 at IIT Madras. "One of the primary recommendation of the NEP 2020 is skill based education," he said. Pradhan