In a major development, controversial IAS probationary officer (PO) and Washim Assistant Collector Puja Khedkar has been taken off field training and ordered to report to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, an official said on Tuesday. Khedkar had been transferred to Washim from Pune (where she was originally posted) amid allegations of manipulation of disability and OBC certificates for getting into the civil services.
The move follows a report sent by the Maharashtra government to the LBSNAA on her behaviour on various counts following complaints pertaining to her certificates, documents, medical and other papers, plus for making bizarre demands beyond her entitlements as an IAS-PO. Shelesh Nawal, Deputy Director, LBSNAA, has asked the state government to relieve the PO from her duties immediately and advise her to report to the Mussoorie academy by July 23. 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.
Puja Khedkar’s documents under scrutiny:
Khedkar had previously filed two certificates to the UPSC under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) category. The certificates were given by the Ahmednagar District Civil Hospital in 2018 and 2021. Nonetheless, the UPSC ordered her to the All India Institute of Medical Science in Delhi for a medical examination. However, according to many accounts, she missed up to six visits between April and August of 2022.
It has since come to light that she applied for a disability certificate in August 2022 at the Aundh government hospital in Pune; however, following medical examinations, her plea was turned down.
The Ahmednagar-born officer in the 2023 batch has claimed that she was the target of a disinformation campaign and that she was the subject of a "media trial."
Pune Police has also been looking for her parents in connection with a criminal case. After a video surfaced of her mother Manorama Khedkar, a local sarpanch, reportedly threatening some people with a gun over a land dispute, a First Information Report was filed against the couple and five other people.