Pralhad Joshi on Jattvibeday assumed charge as the Union Education Minister at Kartavya Bhavan.He chaired a review meeting of the ministry, during which he took stock of the implementation of various schemes and other initiatives. Higher Education Secretary Vineet Joshi and School Education Secretary TK Anil Kumar briefed the minister on the progress of different programmes.Vineet Joshi will replace Vivek Bharadwaj as Secretary in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj following the latter’s superannuation on July 31. Naresh Pal Gangwar will assume charge as Higher Education Secretary on August 1.Joshi was in Karnataka on Saturday when Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Education Minister. “I have been attending meetings to understand all the details and information about the ministry and its decisions. It is a new area of work for me. I have tried to gain a thorough understanding and have spoken to senior officials. The department is quite large and, therefore, I will first focus on understanding it and then on delivering results,” he said.Joshi said Pradhan had an illustrious political career spanning several decades. “His commitment to the development of the nation will always be remembered. His tenure witnessed the successful implementation of NEP 2020, along with more than 100 major and minor reforms in the field of education. Placing the larger national interest above everything else, Shri Pradhan Ji’s decision to step down does not in any way prevent him from contributing to nation-building. Our paths will cross again in the service of the nation’s development,” Joshi said.A five-term Lok Sabha MP from Karnataka’s Dharwad constituency, Joshi will continue to hold his existing portfolios as Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Minister for New and Renewable Energy.Joshi is the second Education Minister from Karnataka. The first was S.R. Bommai, who served as Minister of Human Resource Development in 1996 in the government headed by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.Union Minister of State of Education Jayant Singh was also present along with the secretaries of School Education and Higher Education.A key challenge before him is to drive parliamentary debates on a proposed new bill, Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 aimed at imposing stricter punishment for those involved in examination leaks. He would also oversee the overhaul of the National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducts exams including NEET-UG. The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhisthan Bill which proposes Indian legislation that replaces three legacy higher education regulators—the UGC, AICTE, and NCTE—with a single apex commission to implement National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 reforms.