Centre dismisses controversial IAS officer Puja Khedkar, sources say

New Delhi:

The Centre has dismissed Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect, a month after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cancelled her selection in one of the most sought-after branches of government service.

Ms Khedkar was found guilty of cheating and taking undue advantage of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quota benefits. After cancelling her selection, the UPSC banned her from appearing in the entrance examination for life.

The UPSC found her guilty of forging her identity to take the exam several times.

Following the controversy, the UPSC examined the data of over 15,000 candidates who cleared the IAS selection process between 2009 and 2023. “After this detailed exercise, barring the case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, no other candidate has been found to have availed more attempts than permitted under the CSE Rules,” the UPSC had said, referring to the Civil Services Examination Rules.

Khedkar's troubles began in June when Pune's tax collector Suhas Diwase wrote to Maharashtra's chief secretary Sujata Saunik to warn her about the trainee IAS officer's demands for perks like a car, staff and office that she was not entitled to during her two-year probation period. Khedkar was then transferred to Washim.

Amid the controversy, her selection for the IAS came into the spotlight. It was found that she had resorted to lax criteria for OBC candidates and persons with disabilities. It was then learnt that her father, a former Maharashtra government official, had properties worth Rs 40 crore and she did not qualify for the non-creamy layer OBC tag.

It was also learned that he had failed to show up for a mandatory medical checkup at a government facility to confirm his disability exemption.

A video was also circulated showing her mother, a sarpanch, brandishing a gun to threaten people. Manorama Khedkar was later arrested. Her father, Dilip Khedkar, is being investigated in a case of possession of assets disproportionate to his income.