Pooja Khedkar: Panel formed to probe IAS officer II VYGR

Puja Khedkar, an IAS officer from the 2022 batch from the Maharashtra cadre, has been accused of using forged documents to pass the civil services test and reportedly misrepresenting her physical impairments and OBC classifications. The trainee officer recently caused a stir on social media when she drove her own Audi with VIP number plates and a red-blue beacon light.

The Centre forms a panel to probe into the matter

The Center established a one-member committee on Thursday to look into Puja Khedkar's candidacy as a trainee IAS officer. Khedkar is facing allegations of abusing the OBC and disability quotas to gain admission into the service. The Center said in a statement that an additional secretary-rank officer would look into the probationary IAS officer's eligibility and other information about when she was assigned to the Maharashtra cadre. The announcement states that the committee will submit the report in two weeks.

PMC team reaches the Officer's bungalow

The PMC team arrives at Puja Khedkar, the IAS officer,'s bungalow to take action.

#Pune: PMC team reaches IAS officer Puja Khedkar's bungalow to take action.#PujaKhedkar #PoojaKhedkar #PuneNews pic.twitter.com/HGIgabIGHv— Punekar News (@punekarnews) July 12, 2024

Pune traffic police's notice

Puja was served with a notice by the Pune traffic police, who had taken action against her for using a red-blue beacon light on her own Audi car that had the words "Government of Maharashtra" printed on it. The letter stated that the car was the subject of a legal action under Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act and that a challan for past traffic rule violations has not yet been paid.

The IAS Officer's transfer

Khedkar was posted in Pune, but because of controversy surrounding her demands for facilities like a separate cabin and staff, she was moved to the Washim area in central Maharashtra before completing her training. She then, started as an assistant collector at the Washim District Collectorate in Vidarbha, Maharashtra, on Thursday. She has been the subject of continuous criticism and accusations.

On Thursday, she drove up to her work in Washim in a Bolero, a significant downgrade from the Audi with the red beacon light that she was originally spotted with. Khedkar declined to respond to the charges, claiming that she was not allowed to do so by government rules.

"I am not authorized to discuss the matter. I'm not allowed to comment on this topic under government regulations," she said to reporters.

Khedkar's demands

Khedkar regularly asked for a separate cabin, car, residential quarters, and a peon even before she began work on June 3, according to a report Pune collector Suhas Diwse sent to the General Administration Department.

According to Diwse's report to the GAD, Khedkar shouldn't have been allowed to finish her training in Pune. She was also charged with taking down a senior official's nameplate from the Pune collector's office after he permitted her to use his ante-chamber for work.

A family of Bureacrats

The thirty-two-year-old IAS officer scored an all-India rank of 841 in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam. She hails from a family of politicians and bureaucrats in the Pathardi tehsil of the Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. Diliprao Khedkar, Puja's father, was an officer with the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board before retiring. Her paternal grandfather also happened to be a senior bureaucrat. In the Lok Sabha elections of 2024, Diliprao Khedkar ran as a candidate for the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). Puja's mother is a sarpanch in the village of Bhalgaon, where the family resides.

Inputs: Agencies
Image Source: Multiple agencies