Mumbai: Tuesday May 23, 2023 was a historic day for 933 lucky men and women who had cracked the coveted Civil Services 2022 Final Exams and were consequently recommended by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for IAS, IFS, IPS, IRS and other prestigious posts coming under the government of India.
The entire focus of the whole nation was on these future bureaucrats. Ishita Kishore, Garima Lohia and Uma Harathi – all three who respectively bagged the 1st, 2nd and 3rd ranks, and 930 others who came next, suddenly became role models and inspiration for a country of 1.45 billion people.
Among these “role models” was also Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar. Puja had bagged the 821st rank in the UPSC Civil Services 2022 Merit List. Her marks, as per the UPSC, was 914 – 180 less than 1094 scored by UPSC Civil Services 2022 Topper Ishita.
With this score and rank in the UPSC Merit List, Puja Khedkar was not eligible for IAS rank. But, her UPSC scorecard also had two more distinctive points – “OBC” and “PwBD5”. The OBC is Other Backward Class whereas PwBD refers to Persons with Benchmark Disability.
It was Puja’s caste OBC and classification under PwBD5 that moved her up in the UPSC Merit List and she was hence appointed as Assistant Collector Pune (IAS Rank) for two year probation period. Puja Khedkar was now on course to become another inspiring IAS Success Story.
A female, woman with disability, coming from a backward community fought all odds to crack the UPSC Civil Services Exams, believed to be the toughest in the world, and became one of India’s top bureaucrats… media headlines would have been this few years later.
However, blame it on her luxurious lifestyle, desire to flaunt her power and status, or unnecessary haste to achieve targets, everything collapsed within days like a house of cards.
Selfish war with power
Puja was supposed to join as Assistant Collector Pune in June this year. Weeks before reporting, Puja started demanding separate cabin, accommodation, staff, car, royal seal and more for which she was not entitled to as a trainee and probationary officer.
Snaps of WhatsApp chats now viral in public domain reveal Puja asking the Pune Collector office staff to arrange all these things before her arrival in the city and take charge of the office. According to the reports, Puja was apprised of her trainee status, but she remained adamant and unconvincing.
Trying to meet her demands on her own, Puja came to the Pune Collectorate accompanied with her father, and occupied the cabin and antechamber of Pune District Additional Collector Ajay More. Ajay More was on leave and was unware of what’s going on in his office in his absence.
Puja also removed the name plate of Ajay More and replaced it with her own. As she was not entitled for an official vehicle as a trainee, she put red and blue beacon lights on her own private Audi A4 car and imprinted the “Maharashtra Shasan” logo on it, according to India Today. Puja is also accused of obtaining with the help of a private contractor VIP registration number for her Audi A4 luxury car.
Puja Khedkar’s “out of the way style” irked her bosses forcing Pune District Collector Suhas Diwase to take the matter to Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik.
‘False claims, fudged documents’
Even as the debate was still on about the seemingly unruly behavior of Puja Khedkar, and the Maharashtra Chief Secretary was yet to take action, reports started pouring in about the alleged fudged documents Puja used and the false claims about her illness she reportedly made to get concessions in the UPSC Civil Services Exams.
As per the UPSC rules, a civil services aspirant is required to undergo medical tests to confirm his or her illness. Accordingly, Puja Khedkar was asked to report to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi in April 2022 for verification of her disability. She however did not report at AIIMS citing Covid infection, The Deccan Herald reported citing officials.
According to Pune Now, Puja Khedkar skipped AIIMS call for medical test five times. She appeared for the 6th time but only for half of the test. She did not agree for MRI test to assess vision loss.
Later she submitted a fake disability verification report issued by a private hospital to the UPSC to obtain her IAS posting, The New Indian Express reported citing the documents submitted by Puja at Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
The UPSC challenged her documents submitted at CAT, but she received joining order allegedly using political influence, The New Indian Express reported.
Doubts surrounded not only Puja Khedkar’s health issues but also about her OBC status. As per her documents, Puja comes from the OBC category. But, benefits under the OBC category are reserved for those having non-creamy layer certificate. To get a non-creamy layer certificate, a person’s annual income must be less than 8 lakhs.
On the other hands, Puja Khedkar’s father owns 110 acres of agriculture lands, posses 6 plots and 7 flats, holds 900 grams of gold and diamond, 4 luxury cars, partnerships in two private firms, and alone owns property worth 17 crore rupees, according to The Times of India.
Puja’s father Dilip Khedkar unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. According to the affidavit submitted to the Election Commission, Dilip Khedkar’s annual income is 40 crores. Hindustan Times and other media reports claimed Puja holds properties worth more than 17 crores.
Amid all this a mock UPSC interview of Puja Khedkar also surfaced where she can be heard saying that her parents are separated and she is currently living with her mother Manorama Khedkar.
Puja family background
Not alone the wealth and properties Pooja Khedkar, who is also a doctor with MBBS degree, is reportedly possessing, her family background is also debated following the controversies after controversies surrounding her Civil Services selection and consequent appointment as Assistance Collector in Pune.
Puja’s mother Manorama Khedkar with whom she is reportedly living is a Surpanch of Bhalgaon village in Pathardi Taluka of Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. She was most recently seen in videos having heated exchanges with media persons, and threatening farmers with a gun.
Puja’s father Dilip Khedkar, with whom she reportedly went to Pune and occupied Additional Collector Ajay More’s office in his absence, is a retired IAS officer in Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB).
Dilip Khedkar had contested the Lok Sabha 2024 elections as a Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi nominee from Ahmednagar Parliamentary Constituency. He bagged some 13,000 votes and lost the poll by a margin of more than 6 lakhs.
Dilip Khedkar, according to reports, had used his influence to put pressure on district collector and other senior officials to meet his daughter's demands.
Pooja’s maternal grandfather, Jagannathrao Budhwant, was also a Senior IAS officer, calmingly the first IAS officer from the Vanjari community.
Meanwhile, Puja Khedkar has been transferred from Pune to Washim, and the matter has also reached the PM office. The PMO has sought a report from Pune Collector Suhas Diwase.
Simultaneously, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, where fresh civil servants are given training, has also sought a report from the Maharashtra State General Administration Department.
Maharashtra OBC Welfare Minister Atul Save said a probe will be initiated to scrutinise whether the probationary IAS officer belonged to the non-creamy layer OBC category as claimed by her while appearing in the UPSC exams.
Official sources said Puja Khedkar may be terminated from service if found guilty.
The officials said all the documents presented by her to secure her candidature in the civil services examination and then for selection in the service will be re-examined by a single-member committee constituted by the Centre on Thursday.
“The officer may be terminated from the service if found guilty. She may face criminal charges also in case she is found to have misrepresented a fact or done any sort of manipulation in documents relied upon for her selection,” news agency PTI reported official sources.
In a related development, a police compliant has also filed against Puja’s mother Manorama Khedkar for threatening a farmer.
[The writer, Aleem Faizee, is Founder Editor ummid.com. He can be reached at aleem.faizee@gmail.com.]
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