IAS Officer Puja Khedkar Row: UPSC Aspirants 'Shocked', Say 'This Raises Questions Over Credibility Of Exam'

Puja Khedkar, a 2023 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, is at the centre of a massive controversy. She has been accused of allegedly misusing the disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) quota to secure a position in the IAS. If found guilty, she may be terminated from service and face criminal charges for manipulating documents.

A source told news agency PTI that all 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 probe committee of Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), constituted by the Centre. Dwivedi has been asked to submit his report within two weeks.

"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," the source added.

This recently came to light after Khedkar sparked controversy with demands such as a separate cabin and staff during her posting in Pune. She allegedly used a red beacon light on the Audi car and also got 'Maharashtra Government' written on it without permission. Following the controversy, she was transferred from Pune to Washim district before the completion of her training.

Meanwhile, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) aspirants in Pune say they are "shocked" due to the controversy and state that it has raised "serious questions over the credibility" of the exam.

Shubham Nagre, a UPSC aspirant, who's been preparing for the exam for the past two years gave his first attempt this year and highlighted that people like him who come from a farming background and small villages with limited capital see this exam as the only way to change their social status in the society, for them it is a life-changing opportunity and the incidents like this case change the overall perspective. "I studied at a Marathi medium school and I came to Pune with a dream to become an IAS officer. I have been working hard on my language, and I'm determined to crack these exams. This kind of news disheartens our spirit and belief in transparency in these exams. We never expected that corruption would reach at the UPSC level."

Balaji Misal, another UPSC aspirant preparing for the exams for the past four years said, "I don't think UPSC is to be directly blamed, it's the DoPT who's responsible for appointing Khedkar and they should be inquired as they are responsible for appointing the candidates by the UPSC. What has happened is for sure not giving the right message to the students. We see a lot of Instagram reels where IAS officers post their grand entry to their workplace, they glorify their position and status which does not give a right message. People are getting the wrong motivation to join the services, and they can misuse the service. In this case only, we saw how a candidate coming from a family of bureaucrats got the job without even appearing for the handicap test."

Ramesh Kanade, also an UPSC aspirant, said, "I'm 24 years old, I had a job in my hand which was paying me a decent amount, still I choose to do UPSC because I'm passionate about it. But what has happened is sad, especially for people like us who left their home and everything behind to clear the exams. UPSC is an independent body and still, this is shameful and sad for people preparing for it. This case has come to light, and we now know about it, but what about other potential cases where candidates might be serving and we don't know about it? This raises a lot of questions on the credibility, and I feel a lot of political pressure is involved in selecting certain candidates."

Aviraj Kharat, who hails from Jalna district and is currently preparing for UPSC in Narayan Peth, said, "It is unfair for the students who are preparing dedicatedly if someone is selected just bypassing the steps. I know someone who prepared for the UPSC along with Khedkar was in the same coaching classes, they never spoke but he was telling us that she got a writer and was given an extra hour because of her disability but if you see her social media no disability is seen. Again we have faith in UPSC and I don't think they will tolerate anything that tarnishes the organisation's reputation and will investigate. But this kind of news does dishearten our struggle and hard work."