Panel to vet how officer Puja 'sneaked' into IAS

UPSC RIDDLE | Is there a foolproof system for verifying an IAS aspirant's disability and OBC claims?

- V SUDARSHAN

The Centre on Thursday constituted a single-member Committee "to verify the candidature" of controversial probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, amid allegations she misused the disability and Other Backward Class quota to secure a position in the service.

The probe would be conducted by an additional secretary-rank officer to verify the candidature claims and other details of the 2023 batch officer, who has been allotted the Maharashtra cadre.

The report will be submitted in two weeks.

In untangling the various strands of the Khedkar controversy, there are three aspects that swim into view: One, her OBC non-creamy layer status, which if it has been claimed, seems to be at a complete variance with her economic status, given her father's declared assets of Rs 40 crore; Khedkar seems to be way above the creamy layer.

Two, her disability status; there is some confusion over what kind of disability she has claimed. Reports suggest two kinds -- mental and visual impairment. Either seems unproven going by the number of times she seems to have dodged verification at the AIIMS; as many as six times, according to some reports. The question arises: Does the government have a fool proof system of verification of the disability and the OBC certificate claim?

The UPSC, which selects the candidates for various streams of government services, does not do the verification. That is done by the Department of Personnel and Training the DOPT. This usually happens after a candidate has been selected, not before.