Dr. Vineet Joshi, an experienced civil servant and the current Secretary of the Department of Higher Education, has assumed additional charge as Chairperson of the University Grants Commission (UGC) on 11th April 2025.

A 1992-batch IAS officer from the Manipur cadre, Dr. Joshi has held several key roles in education administration over the years. Most recently, he served as Chief Secretary to the Government of Manipur from July 2023 to December 2024, before taking up his current post as Secretary, Department of Higher Education at the Ministry of Education on 16th January 2025.

His connection to education goes back much further. Between December 2019 and November 2020, he was Director General of the National Testing Agency (NTA), where he oversaw the conduct of high-profile examinations such as JEE Main, NEET, and UGC-NET. During this time, he played an instrumental role in tightening examination protocols and improving standardisation.

Dr. Joshi holds a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur – one of India’s top engineering institutes. He later completed an MBA in International Business from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi, graduating top of his class with a gold medal. He went on to pursue a Ph.D. in Quality Management at the same institution.