Puja Khedkar: Father Owns Assets Worth 40 Crore, Daughter Uses 'Fake' Disability Quota To Become IAS Officer
UPSC Civil Service examination is considered one of the most transparent examinations in India. This examination seems like a jackpot to the middle and lower class community who put their tireless efforts to change their fate. You crack this exam of UPSC and you will get everything you wish for - name, fame, respect, prosperity, dignity, and lots of perks. But a recent case of Puja Khedkar who is a trainee IAS officer in Maharashtra cadre, has drawn controversies for not-so-good reasons.
Tantrums and demands of trainee IAS officer
Puja Khedkar has been making headlines for making VVIP demands, but what she has done before to reach this designation is even more shocking. The officer who faced criticism for using a red beacon and a VIP number plate on her personal Audi car actually got selected by misusing a quota that would otherwise have brought some deserving candidate to this post.
Non-creamy OBC with Rs. 40 crores?
Khedkar marked herself as the candidate from the non-creamy OBC to appear for the UPSC exam but her father's election affidavit says otherwise. Her father Deelip Kondiba Khedkar contested from Ahmednagar, Maharashtra for Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. As per his affidavit, he has assets worth Rs. 40 crore.
Deelip Khedkar
So how did the Audi-owning candidate fall in the non-creamy layer of the OBC? Answer best known to the UPSC.
Disability in affidavit; never appeared for medical test
If this loophole wasn't enough, in her application form and her affidavit submitted to the UPSC, Puja Khedkar mentioned herself as mentally ill and visually impaired. It is due to these concessions that despite fetching low scores, she managed to get the All India Rank (AIR) 841.
After her selection, when she was required to undergo a medical examination for verification, all she could afford was a series of postponements. She refused the medical test six times for different reasons, the first one was that she was COVID-positive in April 2022. Her appointments at AIIMS Delhi and Safdarjung Hospital kept going in vain as she kept denying one or the other test till September.
Khedkar chose to submit the MRI report for her vision loss from an external medical agency which UPSC rejected and challenged her selection in CAT which ruled against her in February 2023. But her report was later accepted and her appointment was confirmed.
As per the latest updates, she has been transferred from Pune to Wasim due to a series of complaints against her alleging her of misusing power.
She is Puja Khedkar, a candidate who is under probation for UPSC civil services with an OBC quota and a medical concession given without verification; making unusual demands before completing her training. She has been appointed by the UPSC, the constitutional body that has the faith of millions, a destination that is a dream of millions.
