The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is set to review the disability certificates of six civil servants, including both current officials and probationers, according to a report. This decision follows a significant controversy involving Puja Khedkar, a former IAS probationer who is accused of using fraudulent disability and OBC certificates to secure her position.
The DoPT has requested the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) to re-evaluate the disability status of these six individuals through a medical board. This move comes in response to concerns raised after these civil servants’ medical certificates were flagged on social media.
Under the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) rules, candidates are eligible for reservation benefits if they have at least 40 percent disability. In addition to reservation benefits, the UPSC provides age relaxation, extended attempt limits, and special provisions at examination centers for candidates with disabilities.
Puja Khedkar is at the center of this controversy. Reports indicate that she received a 7 percent locomotor disability certificate from Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial (YCM) Hospital in 2022, despite the hospital’s physiotherapy department finding no evidence of disability. Khedkar allegedly used this certificate to take the civil service exam more times than allowed by the rules, which resulted in her violating examination regulations.
Earlier this week, the UPSC canceled Khedkar’s provisional candidature from the 2022 civil services examination and has barred her from participating in future exams. The UPSC discovered that Khedkar was the only candidate out of more than 15,000 who exceeded the permissible number of attempts. The commission noted that Khedkar had also changed not only her name but her parents’ names, further raising suspicions.
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In response to these issues, the UPSC has filed a complaint with the Delhi Police, who have registered a case against Khedkar. The UPSC explained that it had conducted a preliminary review of the data and found that the certificates submitted by Khedkar were problematic.
However, the UPSC also stated that it is not equipped to verify the authenticity of every certificate submitted by thousands of candidates each year, as its role is primarily to conduct preliminary scrutiny and rely on certificates issued by competent authorities.
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