Puja Khedkar row: Controversial IAS probationer recalled

Controversial IAS probationer Puja Khedkar has been told to report to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, before July 23. On Tuesday, the Maharashtra government received LBSNAA's instructions, and informed the officer, who worked as the supernumerary assistant collector in Washim, that she was relieved because her training programme was put on hold by the academy.

The LBSNAA wrote to the state early Tuesday asking that it relieve Khedkar, who has courted a series of allegations regarding her appointment and misconduct during the probation period in Maharashtra. She was transferred to Washim from Pune as she was reported for misconduct by the Pune collector. The medical graduate is accused of furnishing false information, and questions have been raised over her appointment in the elite IAS cadre under the Other Backward Class (OBC) and physically handicapped categories, despite being ranked low (821) in the 2022 UPSC civil services examination.

IAS officer Puja Khedkar. File pic/X

Additional Chief Secretary (GAD) Nitin Gadre wrote to Khedkar on Tuesday. "As per the letter of Deputy Director & In-Charge Establishment (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, it is informed that LBSNAA has decided to keep your District Training Programme on hold and immediately recall you for further necessary action. Therefore, you are hereby relieved from the District Training Programme of the State Government of Maharashtra," read Gadre's letter.

Gadre instructed Khedkar to join the training academy at the earliest but not later than July 23, 2024, under any circumstances.

Pune tolice puts notice outside Khedkar's residence. File pic/PTI

Sources said LBSNAA will facilitate the inquiry that the Union government's Department of Personnel and Training has initiated into allegations against Khedkar. A single-member committee has been appointed. All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, and the IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954, govern the IAS cadre, before and after confirmation of the service. Apart from the allegations that she furnished false information to qualify for IAS despite her low rank, the officer will also be probed for alleged misconduct that has been reported by the Pune district collector.

Talking to the reporters in Washim, Khedkar said she will talk before the proper authorities, and asked that her media trial be stopped. "Something fake (information/accusation) comes up every day. Whatever said is not true," she said. The conversation happened before she had received the recall notice.

In a separate incident, Puja's mother Manorama has invited legal action on the charges of using a gun to threaten a farmers' family in Pune district. Her father Dilip, an ex-state pollution board officer, has been accused of threatening staff of the Pune collectorate. It was because of her officer-turned-politician father's high income shown in his Lok Sabha election affidavit that the probationer's appointment in the OBC non-creamy layer category was questioned.

Tuesday
Day state govt received LBSNAA's instructions

821
Khedkar's UPSC ranking

2022
Year Khedkar cleared UPSC

Khedkar faces probe over medical certificates

Pune police will conduct an inquiry into the authenticity of medical certificates submitted by probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar an official said on Tuesday. Khedkar, the 2023-batch officer currently posted in Washim district, had submitted to the UPSC multiple medical certificates, one of them indicating visual impairment, under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) provision.

The Office of the Commissioner For Persons With Disabilities has written a letter to the Pune police and the district collectorate to verify the certificates submitted by Khedkar. A senior police official said, "We have received the letter. We will verify the facts about these certificates, from where they were obtained, which doctor or hospitals certified them will also be scanned."

Khedkar obtained disability certificate from Pimpri hospital in 2022: Doctor

Probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar had obtained a partial "locomotor disability" certificate from a hospital at Pimpri in Pune district in August 2022, a senior official said on Tuesday. "She applied for disability certification about her left limb knee joint back in 2022. She visited here for medical examinations and was assessed by multiple departments," said Dr Rajendra Wable, dean of the government-run Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital, Pimpri. "It was found that she has a seven per cent locomotor disability," he added. The certificate, issued on August 24, 2022, stated that she had a seven per cent disability in the knee.