New Delhi: Senior IAS officer Deepti Gaur Mukerjee has been appointed Secretary of the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education, replacing Naresh Pal Gangwar, whose appointment to the post was put in abeyance. The appointment was part of a secretary-level bureaucratic reshuffle approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
Mukerjee is a 1993-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre. She was serving as Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, a position she took up in August 2024, after serving as Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Authority (NHA).
Her appointment comes as the higher education system faces several ongoing challenges, with the Centre facing scrutiny over national entrance examinations, the functioning of the National Testing Agency and the implementation of several higher education reforms under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Changes at the top
The recent changes began on July 23, when the Centre transferred Vineet Joshi, then Higher Education Secretary, to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and appointed Naresh Pal Gangwar, a 1994-batch Rajasthan cadre officer, as his replacement.
The government order did not specify a reason for Joshi's transfer. Gangwar's appointment was subsequently put in abeyance. The government has not publicly stated why.
The appointment had also faced scrutiny over the reported receipt of more than Rs 1.16 crore in horticulture subsidies by Gangwar's mother, wife and son over five years under a National Horticulture Board scheme. Gangwar denied wrongdoing, saying the beneficiaries were independent applicants who had followed the prescribed process.
There is no official statement linking the subsidy issue to the decision to put his appointment in abeyance.
Who is Deepti Gaur Mukerjee?
Mukerjee has held senior positions in both the Madhya Pradesh government and the Centre.
She served as NHA CEO from December 2023, succeeding Ram Sewak Sharma. The authority oversees programmes including Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY and the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.
In August 2024, she moved to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs as Secretary, succeeding Manoj Govil, who was transferred to the Department of Expenditure.
Her earlier Madhya Pradesh postings included responsibilities in the School Education Department and the State Education Mission. A 2017 Ministry of Education document records her participation in discussions on the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in the state.
Her qualifications include an MA in Economics, along with postgraduate qualifications in housing and urban development and public management and governance.
What lies ahead
Mukerjee will oversee the Department of Higher Education as the Centre works on several policy and regulatory changes under NEP 2020.
These include reforms involving multidisciplinary education, academic credit frameworks and institutional autonomy, along with the proposed Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill. The bill seeks to create a new higher education regulatory framework, replacing the existing system involving bodies such as the UGC, AICTE and NCTE.
Examination reform will also remain an important issue for the department following controversies surrounding national-level examinations.
