Dharmendra Pradhan (born 26 June 1969) is an Indian politician who has served as the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

since his appointment in July 2021. He has previously held the portfolios of Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (2017–2021), Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas (2014–2021), and Minister of Steel (2019–2021). He graduated from the Talcher Autonomous College and

Utkal University Utkal University (UU) is a public university in Bhubaneswar, Khordha, Odisha, and is the oldest university in the state, and the 17th-oldest university in India. The university was established in 1943 and was operating from Ravenshaw College ...

. He has been serving as a

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

since 3 September 2017. He has represented

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

in the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

from 3 April 2018 to 2 April 2024, and earlier served as a member of the 14th

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he has won the

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Samb ...

seat as a candidate of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

. Pradhan belongs to the OBC community.

Early life

Pradhan was born on 26 June 1969, in Talcher,

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

, to Debendra Pradhan, who was a

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

in the Vajpayee government from 1998 to 2004. He became an

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is a student organization in India, registered as a Non-governmental organization (NGO) in 1949. It's a significant student union with over 5 million members, making it one of the largest student or ...

activist in 1983 while studying at Talcher College, where he was elected president of the student union and later secretary. He holds a post-graduate degree in Anthropology from

in Bhubaneswar. After holding various positions in the

, he was elected to the 12th

Odisha Legislative Assembly The Odisha Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Odisha state in India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Bhubaneswar, the capital of the state. The Legislative Assembly comprises List of constituencies of Odisha ...

in 2000 from Pallahara and then to the

in 2004 from Deogarh. He has also served two terms as a member of the

, representing

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

and later

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas

He served as the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, initially joining as Minister of State (Independent Charge) in 2014 and then being promoted to Cabinet rank in 2017. On 31 May 2019, he began his second consecutive term as Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Pradhan was involved with the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, a program aimed at increasing access to LPG connections in rural areas. He oversaw the introduction of a new

Hydrocarbon Exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth's crust using petroleum geology. Exploration methods ...

and Licensing Policy and consumer initiatives such as PAHAL and the Give It Up campaign. He advocated for policies to facilitate India's transition toward increased use of natural gas. During his tenure, approximately $60 billion was invested in expanding the city's gas distribution network.

Minister of Steel

During his tenure as Minister of Steel, policies were introduced to enhance production capacity, support the secondary steel sector, and encourage job creation and value addition. He launched the Ispati Irada and Mission Purvodaya initiatives.

Minister of Skill Development

As Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, he launched initiatives focused on reskilling and upskilling. The number of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) increased by over 40%, and student enrollment increased by over 28% until 2019. He introduced the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) and Skill Saathi. Critics of these programs have noted discrepancies in job placement rates following skill development initiatives, and have expressed concerns over the short duration of training programs.

Minister of Education

In July 2021, Pradhan became the Minister of Education (India) in the

Second Modi ministry The Second Modi ministry, also called Modi 2.0 was the Union Council of Ministers of India, Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi that was formed after the 2019 Indian general election, 2019 general election whi ...

. He resumed the office on 10 June 2024. He has faced accusations of mismanagement and corruption from opposition parties regarding the 2024 NEET controversy, which arose following allegations of question paper leaks and the sudden declaration of the NEET-UG 2024 results on 4 June 2024 10 days earlier than the originally scheduled date. While the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

did not find large-scale wrongdoing by Pradhan, investigations confirmed cases of cheating and malpractice, leading to over 100 arrests. In 2024, he appointed a high-level committee led by former

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) is India's national space agency, headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. It serves as the principal research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS), overseen by the Prime Minister o ...

chief K Radhakrishnan to recommend reforms to improve the entrance examination system of the NTA.

Positions held

* In-charge, BJP Uttar Pradesh * Minister of Education, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (Jul 2021 – Present) * Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Steel (May 2019 - Jul 2021) * Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (Sept 2017 - May 2019) * Minister of State (Independent Charge): Petroleum & Natural Gas (May 2014 - Sept 2017) * Member of Parliament (

), Madhya Pradesh (MP): April 2018 - 2024 * Member of Parliament (

), Bihar: 2012– 2018 * In-charge, BJP Karnataka: 2011–2013 * Bharatiya Janata Party All India General Secretary: 2010–2015 * Co-Incharge, BJP Bihar: State Elections * In-charge, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM): * In-charge, BJP Jharkhand: * Election In-charge, BJP Uttarakhand * Bharatiya Janata Party National Secretary: 2007–2010 * In-charge, BJP Chhattisgarh: 2007–2010 * Member of Parliament (

) from Deogarh, Odisha: 2004–2009 * Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha National President: 2004–2006 * Member of Odisha Legislative Assembly from Pallahara Assembly constituency: 2000–2004 * National Secretary, ABVP: 1995 * President, Talcher College Students' Union: 1985 * Started as an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activist: 1983 , - , - , - , - , - , -

Controversies

Dharmendra Pradhan has five pending criminal cases, including one under the IPC for allegedly "promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony".

References

External links

Official Video Channel of Dharmendra Pradhan Ji on Veblr.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pradhan, Dharmendra 1969 births Living people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Odisha India MPs 2004–2009 People from Angul district Rajya Sabha members from Bihar Lok Sabha members from Odisha Narendra Modi ministry People from Debagarh district Members of the Cabinet of India Steel ministers of India Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministers of India Ministers of education of India India MPs 2024–2029 Scandals in India Controversies in India Fraud in India Corruption in India Political scandals in India Political corruption in India Political controversies in India