On Tuesday, 9th July, IAS trainee Puja Khedkar was transferred to Washim district after harassing the administrative staff at the Pune Collector Office. As reported earlier, the IAS trainee was making unfair demands from the Collector’s Office, which included an official car with a VIP number plate, a red-blue beacon light, and an official chamber with adequate staff at her call. After this Pune collector Dr Suhas Diwase wrote to the chief secretary Sujata Sainik, seeking help.
As per the latest update in the case, the IAS trainee has been transferred to Washim. As per the administrative rules, the facilities being demanded by Khedkar are not available for any probationer. However, Khedkar’s father Diliprao, a retired administrative officer had been reportedly pressurizing the District Collector’s Office for fulfilling his daughter’s demands. He has also threatened the officers saying that they would face dire consequences if his daughter’s demands are not fulfilled.
In the meantime, trainee officer Khedkar had been using her private vehicle and had applied a VIP number plate on it. She also encroached on the office of Additional Collector Ajay More in his absence. She put up her sign on his chamber door in his absence and claimed the space as her office chamber.
एका ट्विटमुळे काय होऊ शकते?
— Prashant Dhumal (@prash_dhumal) July 9, 2024
आयएएसची बदली होऊ शकते. https://t.co/85kVALazNe pic.twitter.com/EoFTV4M8IF
The woman had been harassing the officers for the past three months. One of the officers while exclusively talking to Pune Mirror said that she had to be appointed as a gazette officer first to avail all these benefits. “The father-daughter duo were making unfair demands and harassing the officers for demands that could legally not be fulfilled,” he added.
Interestingly, the woman is being talked about on social media also because of her ‘unfavourable’ appointment and her entry into the IAS. According to a UPSC communication dated February 2, 2022, Pooja Khedkar was denied an appointment. However, she filed an affidavit in court claiming to be visually impaired and mentally ill, and her lawsuit sought an order against the federal government and the UPSC.
The court scheduled her medical examination for around 4 times between July to September 2022 but she failed to appear all four times. Therefore the visual disability could not be assessed. Later she claimed that she was suffering from Claustrophobia but eventually failed to prove that also. The tribunal then dismissed the petition and refused to give any relief.
As there is no reservation for those who are suffering from disease under sec 34(d)
— Suraj (@itsSBG00) July 8, 2024
->So the ministry said to conduct the medical examination on 22nd April at AIMS
SHE REQUESTED FOR POSTPONEMENT (COVID)
->Next date – 1 July , 2022
SHE DIDN'T APPEAR FOR PT pic.twitter.com/8EmnXSTQ56
In the 2023 hearing, Judge MG Shevlikar’s bench presented the affidavit under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act of 2016. Khedkar subsequently joined the Indian Administrative Service.
Several activists in Pune including Vijay Kumhar who raised this issue first are demanding an investigation into her appointment as an IAS trainee. Khedkar is said to have secured rank 821 (PwD-5).
The Chief Secretary, Sujata Sainik on 9th July looked into the matter and complaints against Khedkar after which she set up a committee. The committee will be required to investigate the matter and submit the report in writing.
