Who Is Pooja Khedkar, Trainee IAS Officer Who Has Kicked Up A Row?
Pooja Khedkar, a 2022 batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam.
A 2023 batch probationary IAS officer, Pooja Khedkar, has been transferred from Pune to Washim district in central Maharashtra after she courted controversy by allegedly demanding a house and a car even before taking charge as assistant collector.
Who Is Pooja Khedkar And What Is The Controvery?
Pooja Khedkar is from the Maharashtra cadre. She is accused of allegedly submitting fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam. According to reports, she secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 841 in the UPSC exam, considered relatively low.
Khedkar appeared for the civil services exam under the OBC and visually impaired categories. She has reportedly also submitted a mental illness certificate.
In April 2022, she was asked to report at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, for verification of her disability certificate but she did not do so, citing COVID infection. Khedkar has reportedly refused to attend any of the medical examinations on six different occasions.
Demands For House, Car, VIP Number Plate
After joining as a probationary officer in Pune, Khedkar allegedly made several demands, including a VIP number plate for an Audi car. Videos of red and blue beacon lights on the Audi and Maharashtra government insignia have also gone viral.
As per a report submitted by Pune collector, Suhas Diwse, to the General Administration Department (GAD), even before joining duty on June 3, Khedkar repeatedly demanded that she be provided a separate cabin, a car, residential quarters and a peon. She was told that she was not entitled to these facilities while on probation, and accommodation would be provided to her.
She was also accused of removing the nameplate of a senior official at the Pune collector's office when he allowed her to use his ante-chamber as her office. Diwse, in his report to the GAD, said it was not appropriate to allow Khedkar to continue her training in Pune.
Pooja Khedkar's Father's Connection
Her father, Dilip Khedkar, is a former state government officer. He had contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on a Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) ticket where he had declared Rs 40 crore assets in his affidavit.
Pune Mirror reported that Pooja appeared for the civil services exam under the OBC category and by adding non-creamy layer (NCL) certificate despite having immovable property worth Rs 17 crore and getting an annual income of Rs 43 lakh from it.
The creamy layer certificate limitation is an annual parental income of Rs 8 lakh, which gave rise to doubts about Pooja's eligibility for the OBC non-creamy layer category, which is meant to benefit those from less privileged backgrounds. Khedkar's father also reportedly pressurised the district collector's office to ensure that his daughter's demands were fulfilled.
According to the official order, Pooja Khedkar will complete the remaining term of her training in Washim until July 30, 2025.
The Times of India quoted the Washim district collector Bhuvaneswari S as saying, "Pooja Khedkar is yet to join, and in case of delay, the matter would be reported to the General Administrative Department."
(with PTI inputs)
