Amid questions over her appointment by allegedly availing Other Backward Class (OBC) benefits as well as disability concessions, the Centre on Thursday formed a one-member committee to look into the controversy involving probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar.
An additional secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) will enquire into the matter and submit a report within two weeks.
“The Central Government has constituted a single-member Committee, chaired by a senior officer of the rank of Additional Secretary to the Government of India to verify the candidature claims and other details of Ms. Puja Manorma Dilip Khedkar, a candidate of Civil Services Examination-2022 and earlier CSEs. The Committee will submit its report in 2 weeks,” the government's statement reads.
On Thursday, Puja Khedkar, 34, assumed her new role as assistant collector at the Washim District Collectorate after being transferred from Pune.
She is accused of placing a red beacon on her private Audi car in violation of the service rules. She also wrote ‘Maharashtra government' on the private car.
However, on Thursday, she arrived in a Bolero car. She refrained from commenting on the controversy, saying service rules prohibit her from speaking on the matter.
“I am not authorised to speak on the issue. Government rules don't provide (allow) me to speak on this,” she said.
Meanwhile, the police reached her residence to investigate the purported misuse of a red beacon light and a VIP number for her Audi car.
Puja Khedkar is a 2023-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre, who secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 841 in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam.
According to a report submitted by Pune collector Suhas Diwse to the General Administration Department,
Khedkar repeatedly demanded that she be provided with a separate cabin, car, residential quarters and a peon even before joining the duty as a trainee on June 3.
She allegedly removed the nameplate of a senior official at the Pune collector's office when he allowed her to use his ante-chamber as her office.
Social activists and social media users have raised questions about Puja's OBC (non-creamy layer) status since she ostensibly belongs to a well-to-do family.
She allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam in 2022.
She is also accused of submitting a fake mental illness certificate.
