​​​​​​​New Delhi, July 26: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday assumed additional charge as the Union Education Minister and said he has started reviewing the ministry's functioning and meeting senior officials to understand its operations before making any detailed announcements.

Speaking to reporters, Joshi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had entrusted him with the responsibility and that he was carefully studying the ministry's work. Calling education a "new subject" for him, he said the ministry is a vast department and he would speak in detail only after gaining a complete understanding of its functioning.

"I have assumed charge and am reviewing all the details and decisions that need to be taken. I have held continuous meetings with senior officers to understand the ministry. Since this is a new subject for me and a very large department, I will speak in detail after I have fully understood it," Joshi said.

Earlier in the day, Joshi thanked Prime Minister Modi in a post on X for entrusting him with the new responsibility, saying he accepted the role with humility and a deep sense of duty.

Joshi was given charge of the Education Ministry on Saturday after President Droupadi Murmu accepted the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan from the Union Council of Ministers with immediate effect. He will continue to hold his existing portfolios of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and New and Renewable Energy.

According to an official statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan, the President assigned Joshi the additional charge of the Education Ministry on the advice of the Prime Minister under Article 75(2) of the Constitution.

The leadership change comes after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned, stating that he stepped down in the interest of students and to prevent ongoing protests over examination irregularities from being exploited by "anti-national forces." His resignation follows weeks of nationwide demonstrations demanding greater transparency, accountability and reforms in the examination system.