Editorial: Puja Khedkar Casts A Shadow

It is unfortunate that the case of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar of Pune has cast a shadow over the recruitment system for civil service officers. Ever since she joined the coveted service, she has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. She “hired” an expensive car, fitted with a blue light on the roof, for commuting to her office in wanton violation of rules governing the use of such lights. It now transpires that she got into the IAS under the disability and non-creamy OBC categories. The Union Public Service Commission and the Personnel Department follow certain guidelines regarding disability. A person who has no vision in one eye is not considered “disabled” if the other eye is perfect in every respect. In her case, she claims locomotor deficiency, which restricts the movement of her arms and legs. She also claims to belong to the non-creamy OBC category.

Khedkar should have submitted herself before the medical board at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which would have certified whether she was eligible for inclusion in the disabled category. On one pretext or another, she did not present herself before the board, not once but five times. She had also not been able to get a proper certificate of disability from the hospitals she allegedly approached. It is on record that she submitted a full-fitness certificate while joining a medical college in 2007. What’s noteworthy is that the Personnel Department allowed her to undergo the required training at Mussoorie and join the IAS without her clearing the medical check-up. The Central government has, now, ordered a medical examination which will prove whether she suffers from any disability. Had the government followed the standard protocol, it could have averted the embarrassment caused by Puja Khedkar.