Puja Khedkar case: Opening 'the' can of worms
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: July 20, 2024 -

THE controversy surrounding Puja Khedkar, a Maharashtra cadre officer who is currently facing allegations of using fraudulent means to clear civil services examination, is becoming very much like the Chinese box narrative structure in literature, where a story is unfolded through a ”nest of stories,” or in other words, one story is told within another and so on.

Initially thought to be just an objection raised by some disgruntled RTI activists against the non-creamy layer certificate of the IAS probationer, closer scrutiny of the matter has revealed so many hitherto unknown facts that everyone is today questioning how could a girl manipulate the whole system of UPSC without some of the corrupt people in the system facilitating her.

How can she claim several disabilities to avail of concessions in the UPSC selection process but refused to undergo mandatory medical tests to confirm those?

Why she was given the letter of appointment as probationary officer without fulfilling the basic criteria of medical examination?

How could she change her category of disability without any background check on the part of the officials?

How could she claim reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, when her father Dilip Khedkar, a former civil servant, had assets worth Rs 40 crore?

How come nobody find these discrepancies at the time of appointment?

How can an IAS probationer dare to misuse her power and privilege while working in Pune without any fear of consequences?

Even if she became a permanent IAS officer after probation, does it fall under her jurisdiction to capture the chamber of another person and use it as her own?

Isn't there a government sanctioned space allotted to the officials?

There are so many questions that need to be answered.

A thorough investigation should be carried out to find answers to these questions and fix the responsibility.

This is a serious matter that should not be swept under the carpet as any lax on the part of the authority would erode the trust of the people in one of the country's most revered institutions.

Even as the case of Puja Khedkar has brought disrepute to a highly reputed service sector of the nation, the revelation that Puja Khedkar's father was suspended twice while he was in service as a civil servant on corruption charges in 2018 and in 2020 after businessmen accused him of extortion and her mother, Manorama Khedkar being charged with attempt to murder after a video in which she was seen brandishing a firearm and threatening a group of villagers over land dispute surfaced on social media is an indication of a larger malaise plaguing the Indian society for long.

One can say for sure that cases like that of Puja Khedkar could breed only from such ”influential and politically active” families, who have come to live under the impression that money and muscle power is everything.

Call it fate or karma catching up, if not for the undue pressure allegedly exerted by Puja Khedkar's father for providing special facilities to his daughter despite her being just a probationary officer, the controversy surrounding Puja Khedkar's appointment, which has now been put on halt, may not have come to light.

So, it is good to know that in the aftermath of this controversy, the selection process of Indian civil service has come under intense public scrutiny with similar allegations of flouting rules in the appointment of many former as well current bureaucrats coming to the fore.

Apart from Abhishek Singh, a former IAS officer turned actor, who claimed disability benefits but faced scepticism after his viral fitness videos surfaced on social media, questions have also been raised on the selection of Asif K Yusuf, who ranked 215 in IAS 2016 under OBC; Priyanshu Khati's shift from the disability benchmark of PwD-5 to PwBD-OH for IAS entry despite appearing fit on Instagram reels; Anu Beniwal's EWS selection despite coming from an IPS family background, and Nikita Khandelwal's IAS appointment under Visually Impaired quota although she had been seen driving without glasses.

More than a Chinese box, it is a can of worms that Puja Khedkar has opened.