Dharmendra Pradhan

Dharmendra Pradhan is a Cabinet Minister for Education in the Government of India. As a Member of Parliament, he represents the Sambalpur seat in the Lok Sabha and was previously a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Born on June 26, 1969, he comes from Talcher in Odisha. He is the son of former Bharatiya Janta Party MP, Dr. Debendra Pradhan and Basanta Manjari Pradhan.

Pradhan's leadership qualities were visible within him from his college days. He became an Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activist while studying as a higher secondary student at Talcher College, Orissa in 1983. Later, Pradhan became the President of the Student Union in Talcher.

Pradhan served as ABVP Secretary and worked as an election in-charge in Bihar and as an in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Odisha. In 1998, he joined the BJP, following his father's footsteps.

He kickstarted his political career by contesting in the 2000 Odisha Assembly elections from Pallalhara constituency and tasted his first electoral victory. Serving different positions in BJP, he was next elected to the 14th Lok Sabha and was also elected to Rajya Sabha twice from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi government, he was elected in 2014 and held the portfolios of State (Independent Charge ) of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.

As a Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Pradhan implemented many significant reforms and initiatives. He introduced PAHAL, the world's largest Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme, and the #GiveItUp campaign, which encouraged wealthy citizens to give up their LPG subsidy for the benefit of the needy. This campaign, supported by PM Modi, saw about 10 million consumers respond positively. To provide clean fuel to rural India, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was launched, giving over 80 million LPG connections to women from Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. Pradhan has visited more than 24 countries, attended many summits, and participated in many International programs as an Indian delegate while holding this ministry.

During his tenure as the Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (2017-19), Pradhan launched numerous initiatives focused on skilling, reskilling, and upskilling India's workforce, addressing the skills gap among the youth.

Additionally, he has actively addressed issues such as youth unemployment, skill-based education, and the rehabilitation and resettlement of farmers, and has played a significant role in mobilising the youth in Odisha.

Pradhan became the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas for the second term in 2019 and the Minister of Steel from 2019 to 2021.

Pradhan made several key decisions in the hydrocarbon sector. With the Union Cabinet's support, he introduced the Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP), which aimed to increase domestic oil and gas production, attract substantial investment, and create significant employment opportunities.

He also led various reforms to support the country's energy transition. These included promoting gas as a bridge fuel, ethanol, compressed biogas (CBG), biodiesel, and the SATAT scheme. He advocated for hydrogen-blended CNG buses in Delhi and the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for long-haul trucks.

On 7th July 2023, he was inducted into the Ministry of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship department under Modi Cabinet.

He secured his seat once more in the Lok Sabha by winning from the Sambalpur constituency in the 2024 general elections. Following this, he was appointed to the Modi 3.0 cabinet as the Minister of State for Education.

Dharmendra Pradhan is married to Mridula Pradhan and has two children, Nishant and Namaisha. As a simple person, he finds solace in spending time with his family.