Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 16: The district training programme of the controversial probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar has been put on hold and she has been asked to report back at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie which trains civil servants of the IAS cadre and also conducts the foundation course of Group-A central civil services.
Ms Khedkar is under scrutiny over alleged misuse of power and privileges. This is the first major action against Ms Khedkar who had been transferred to Washim from Pune (where she was originally posted) amidst allegation of manipulation of disability and OBC certificates for getting into the civil services. She has been recalled to the training academy for “further necessary action.”
“You are hereby relieved from the District Training Programme of the State Government of Maharashtra,” said the release from the General Administration Department. She has been instructed to “join the academy at the earliest” but not later than July 23, a Maharashtra government official said.
Ms Khedkar came into focus after reports about her alleged demands for a separate office and official car and the unauthorised use of a beacon in her private car emerged. The authenticity of various certificates submitted by her to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), one of them indicating visual impairment, is being probed.
Ms Khedkar had earlier submitted two certificates, provided by the Ahmednagar District Civil Hospital in 2018 and 2021, to the UPSC under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) category. She was, however, sent by the UPSC for a medical check-up at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Science but she skipped as many as six appointments between April and August 2022, claimed several reports.
It has now emerged that she applied for a disability certificate from the Aundh government hospital in Pune in August 2022, but after medical tests, her application was rejected.
The 2023-batch officer from Ahmednagar was transferred from Pune, where she was posted as an assistant collector, to Washim as a supernumerary assistant collector after she was first accused of demanding perks and facilities to which she was not entitled as a trainee official.
It was alleged she was found using a red beacon and a “Government of Maharashtra” sticker on her private Audi car. She also used Pune Additional Collector Ajay More’s office while he was away. She reportedly removed office furniture, besides demanding letterheads and a VIP number plate. She also raised demands for a separate house and car – perks that are unavailable for junior officers on probation for 24 months.
Last week, the Union government set up a one-member committee “to verify the candidature” of Ms Khedkar and submit a report in two weeks. Questions were raised about Ms Khedkar’s appointment in the civil services under the OBC non-creamy layer after a Pune RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar alleged that her father had assets worth ₹ 40 crore. A person with a family income over ₹ 8 lakh per annum is from the ‘creamy layer’ and is not eligible for reservation benefits.
Ms Khedkar has said she would testify in front of the expert committee and that she would “accept the decision of the committee;” “Whatever my submission is, I will give it in front of the committee and the truth will come out,” she added.
Ms Khedkar has accused Pune Collector Suhas Divase of harassment, police sources said. Ms Khedkar called police to her home yesterday to share information on “certain matters.” She spoke to three women cops from 11 pm to 1 am.
Last week the Collector’s office released a preliminary report that contained screenshots of WhatsApp chats between Ms Khedkar and an unidentified individual Mr Divase’s office. In her messages Ms Khedkar had demanded details about her office and a government car, neither of which is available to on-probation employees. This too, she was told, would be “discussed with collector sir on Monday.”
On May 23 – 10 days before her posting began – an apparently impatient Ms Khedkar messaged, “Any update about accommodation, travel, cabin, etc?” There was no reply. Four days later she sent an ultimatum of sorts. “Pls get the designated cabin n vehicle done before I join on 3rd. Later there will be no time. If it is not possible let me know, I will talk to collector sir accordingly…”
