Guwahati: The Centre has appointed senior IAS officer Naresh Pal Gangwar as Secretary of the Department of Higher Education amid pressure on the Education Ministry over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak controversy.
The appointment comes amid protests over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak, with groups including the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
A Rajasthan cadre officer from the 1994 IAS batch, Gangwar will take charge after Vineet Joshi, a 1992-batch officer, was moved to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as Secretary. Joshi will assume the new role after Vivek Bhardwaj retires on July 31.
Gangwar joined the IAS in 1994 after qualifying for the civil services examination a year earlier. He has held several administrative positions under the Rajasthan government and the Centre.
A native of Nainital, Gangwar was born on October 21, 1970. He holds a degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering, an M.Tech in Communication and Radar, and a postgraduate degree in Economics.
During his Rajasthan tenure, he served as district collector in Tonk, Sawai Madhopur, Jhalawar, Jodhpur and Bharatpur between 2001 and 2008.
Gangwar also handled education-related responsibilities as Secretary of the School Education Department in Rajasthan in 2014.
He moved to the Centre in 2020 as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and was later elevated as Additional Secretary in January 2022.
He was later appointed to head the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying in August 2025.