Fake Certificates, Beacon on Private Audi, Seizing Senior Official's Chamber: Know Everything About IAS Puja Khedkar Matter as PMO, LBSNAA Seek Report

The problems of Maharashtra cadre IAS probationer Pooja Khedkar seem to be increasing day by day. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Mussoorie-based Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), which trains civil services candidates, have sought a report from the state government on the issue.

The IAS probationer came under scrutiny after Pune District Collector Dr Suhas Diwase's report to the General Administration Department. Even before joining duty on June 3, Khedkar repeatedly demanded that she be provided with a separate cabin, car, residential quarters, and a peon, claimed the report by Diwase.

After she made these demands, as per the report by Diwase, she was informed that she was not entitled to these facilities while on probation, and accommodation would be provided to her. She was also accused of removing the nameplate of a senior official at Pune collector's office when he allowed her to use his ante-chamber as her office. Additionally, Khedkar was also using a red-beacon on her private Audi, which is not allowed during probation.

Thus, Diwase, in his report to the GAD, said it was not appropriate to allow Khedkar to continue her training in Pune.

She was transferred to Washim after

Following the uproar on social media and news, she was transferred to Washim district in central Maharashtra before the completion of her training after she caused a controversy with demands for a separate cabin and staff.

Did she submit fake OBC Creamy layer and disability certificate?

Meanwhile, an official said on Wednesday that Khedkar has allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam.

Khedkar appeared for the civil services exam under the OBC and visually impaired categories, the official said, adding she also submitted a mental illness certificate.

Refusal to undergo verification of disability at AIIMS

The official also told PTI that in April 2022, she was asked to report to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi for verification of her disability certificate, but she did not do so, citing a Covid infection.

The official said that her father, Dilip Khedkar, a former state government officer, while contesting the recent Lok Sabha election, had declared his property valued at ₹40 crore.

However, Pooja Khedkar appeared for the civil services exam under the OBC category, where the creamy layer certificate limitation is an annual parental income of ₹8 lakh, the official said.

Additionally, a mock interview clip has gone viral on social media, wherein the panel asked why she had shown her father's income as zero, to which she replied that they had separated. She also informed the panel that her father is a retired Maharashtra government servant.