Episode 86 - NEP, Odisha Politics, Balasore rail tragedy and much more with Dharmendra Pradhan

Dharmendra Pradhan is a second generation politician and currently serving as a minister in PM Modi’s cabinet looking after Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. He also has the feat of being the longest serving minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, a role which he donned for seven years between 2014-2021. Pradhan is also known as ‘Ujjwala Man’ after he successfully implemented Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana providing LPG connections to over 8 million families from Below Poverty Line (BPL). Pradhan started his political career as an ABVP karyakarta and has donned several hats in the organisation too, including serving as national president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of BJP, between 20024-2006 to becoming national secretary of BJP in 2007. In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Pradhan talks about National Education Policy in detail and provides a detailed insight into the changes in curriculum, structure and its implementation across the country. He also talks about resistance and opposition to the NEP by a few state governments. He also talks about the Balasore rail tragedy, the Manipur issue, the opposition's I.N.D.I.A alliance and BJP-BJD relations in Odisha with Naveen Patnaik sharing a close bond with PM Narendra Modi.