After her transfer followed by letter by Pune Collector to the General Administration Department, the problems of IAS Puja Khedkar are increasing day by day.
Her OBC, disability certificates under scanner, as the Central government on Thursday constituted a single-member committee to verify the candidature claims and other details of Puja Manorma Dilip Khedkar.
She was transferred to Washim in Vidarbha on Tuesday after she was found at the center of a controversy over her alleged misuse of power as a civil servant.
Officer's mother under scanner
Meanwhile, a video is circulating on social media in which the IAS officer's mother, Manorama Khedkar, is seen threatening a farmer with a gun.
According to local media reports, the Khedkar family purchased 25 acres of land in Mulshi taluka of Pune district. Allegedly, they attempted to encroach on the neighbouring farmer's land. When the farmer objected, Manorama Khedkar arrived with bouncers and threatened him while brandishing a gun. Shockingly, when the farmers tried to file a complaint at Paud police station in Pune, their complaint was not registered due to "pressure from the top", added reports.
Baramati connection
Additionally, RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar has revealed that Pooja Khedkar's family has purchased land in Baramati taluka. Vijay Kumbhar tweeted that her father Dilip Khedkar owns 14 gunthas of land at Waghalwadi in Baramati taluka. This land is registered in the name of Dilip Khedkar in Group No 8 of Waghalwadi Gram Panchayat and is said to have been purchased between 2010 and 2011. Dilip Khedkar's Baramati connection has surfaced due to this land ownership at Waghalwadi in Baramati.
What did she exactly do?
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, sparked a controversy recently when she used her private Audi car with a red-blue beacon light and VIP number plate.
She also demanded facilities that are not available to probationary officers in the IAS.
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. However, she was denied the facilities.
The IAS trainee was also accused of removing the nameplate of a senior official at the Pune collector's office when he allowed her to use his ante-chamber as her office.
Khedkar allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam. Reports claimed that she had also submitted a mental illness certificate. In April 2022, she was asked to report at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, for verification of her disability certificate, but she did not do so, citing Covid infection.
