Dharmendra Pradhan

Dharmendra Pradhan (28 May 1960) is a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader who currently serves as Union Minister for Education and for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. He rose to national prominence by steering the rollout of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) and by expanding the Skill India Mission, programmes that together target the training of tens of millions of Indian youth and the restructuring of the country’s schooling system.

Political Career and Rise

Born in Mahasamund, then part of Madhya Pradesh (now Chhattisgarh), Pradhan earned a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in Chemistry from Government Science College, Raipur, before joining the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in the early 1980s. He entered electoral politics through the BJP’s youth wing, became state president of the party’s Chhattisgarh unit in 2005, and was first elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh on 3 June 2012.

From 26 May 2014 to 30 May 2019 he held the portfolio of Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, overseeing the launch of the LPG‑on‑Tap scheme that reached 30 million households by 2018. A cabinet reshuffle on 30 May 2019 elevated him to Cabinet Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and on 7 July 2021 Prime Minister Narendra Modi appointed him Union Minister for Education, a post he retained alongside his skill‑development charge.

Education Portfolio and the National Education Policy 2020

The NEP 2020, approved by the Union Cabinet on 29 July 2020, replaces the 10+2 schooling structure with a 5+3+3+4 design and sets a target of 100 % Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education by 2035. It mandates the creation of multidisciplinary undergraduate programmes of four years, the phasing out of the affiliation system for colleges, and the establishment of