IAS Trainee, Dr Puja Khedkar obtained locomotor disability certificate in 2022, says YCM Dean; Police to probe authenticity of documents

Pune: The controversial Probationary IAS officer Dr Puja Khedkar who is in the eye of a storm over the legitimacy of her OBC non-creamy and medical certificates, obtained a partial “locomotor disability” certificate from Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital at Pimpri in Pune district in August 2022. 

According to Dr Rajendra Wable, dean of the government-run YCMH, Dr Khedkar has a 7 per cent locomotor disability which is not a major physical disability since the benchmark to avail of any facilities or benefits is 40 per cent disability. 

As per The Indian Express news report, the diagnosis was given by Dr Milind Lokhande as part of the medical board team’s assessment. Her disability certificate from the hospital mentioned, “The diagnosis in her case is an old ACL tear with left knee instability. She has 7 per cent permanent disability in relation to her left lower limb as per the guidelines."

Also read- Fraud In MBBS Admission? IAS Trainee, Dr Puja Khedkar Accused Of Using OBC Non-Creamy Certificate For Admission At Pune Medical College

Speaking to PTI, Dr Wable said, “She applied for disability certification for her left limb knee joint back in 2022. She visited here for medical examinations and was assessed by multiple departments. It was found that she has a seven per cent locomotor disability."

According to a News 18 report, it has emerged that the certificate was obtained using a false address, and a "ration card" was submitted as proof of address instead of the required Aadhaar card details. The daily sources mentioned that the address on the certificate belonged to the 'Thermoverta Engineering Company', which is the same address under which her high-end Audi car is registered.

However, after acquiring a certificate from the YCM Hospital, Dr Khedkar for the second time applied for a disability certificate from Aundh government hospital in Pune in August 2022, which was rejected after medical tests. 

Dr Nagnath Yempalle, civil surgeon at Pune’s District Hospital informed The Indian Express that after the hospital issues the certification, the application is automatically cancelled at their facility, indicating that the disability certificate issued by YCM Hospital led to the cancellation of the online application to Aundh’s District Hospital.

Eligibility of Disability certificate

"There are 5 major areas where disability certificates are issued – locomotor, visual, hearing, mental (dyslexia and others) and blood disorders (like haemophilia, thalassaemia. There are another 21 subsets of disabilities under the five categories and accordingly, the applications are processed. Once the application is submitted online the candidate then selects his/her preference hospital where tests are carried out and accordingly, certificates of disability are issued. Since our system showed that Khedkar has already been issued 7 per cent locomotor disability by YCM hospital, the application got auto cancelled at Aundh District Hospital Pune,” Dr Yempalle added.

Previously, Khedkar had submitted certificates from Ahmednagar District Civil Hospital in 2018 and 2021 to the UPSC, indicating low vision and mental depression under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) category. The YCMH issued the certificate of 7% locomotor disability to trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar in 2022. The previous two certificates with 51% combined disability with mental illness and visual impairment were issued by Ahmednagar District Hospital in April 2021.

Ahmednagar Hospital confirms the authenticity of disability certificates 

The Ahmednagar District Hospital in Maharashtra has confirmed that Puja Khedkar was diagnosed with depression and myopic degeneration in both eyes. As per an Indian Express news report, Khedkar was issued visual and mental disability certificates by the medical boards of the Ahmednagar District Hospital in 2018 and 2021, respectively. Following this, the then board also issued her a combined certificate for medical disabilities in 2021. The authenticity of these certificates was verified and confirmed to be accurate in the latest report. 

Dr S V Raskar, an ophthalmic surgeon, examined Khedkar on April 25, 2018, and diagnosed her with "BE High Myopia with myopic degeneration with 40 per cent permanent disability". Subsequently, she was issued a disability certificate. 

Furthermore, on January 18, 2021, Khedkar was evaluated for psychiatric illness by Dr Yogesh Gadekar, a psychiatrist, and Minal Katkol, a clinical psychologist. She was assessed using the Indian Disability Evaluation and Assessment Scale and was found to be suffering from depression, as indicated in the latest report.

She was issued a certificate that shows low vision in both eyes (40 per cent disability) and mental illness and brain depression (20 per cent disability). An auto-generated disability was 51 per cent, and accordingly, a certificate was issued, the report said.

Dr Sanjay Ghogare, the Ahmednagar District Civil Surgeon, mentioned that a report certifying 51 per cent disability was submitted to the District Collector S Salimath. The report was scheduled to be forwarded to the Nashik divisional commissioner on Tuesday. 

Police to probe authenticity of medical certificates

Pune police will conduct an inquiry into the authenticity of medical certificates submitted by Dr Puja Khedkar. Khedkar, the 2023-batch officer currently posted in Washim district, had submitted to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) multiple medical certificates, one of them indicating visual impairment, under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) provision.

The Office of the Commissioner For Persons With Disabilities has written a letter to the Pune police and the district collectorate to verify the certificates submitted by Khedkar.

A senior police official said, "We have received a letter from the Office of the Commissioner For Persons With Disabilities. They have asked us to check the authenticity of the certificates submitted by Puja Khedkar. We will verify the facts about these certificates, from where they were obtained, which doctor or hospitals certified them will also be scanned."

Medical Dialogues team had reported that she had submitted a fitness certificate while securing admission to Shrimati Kashibai Navale Medical College and General Hospital, Pune in 2007 under the Other Backward Class (OBC) Nomadic Tribe-3 category of the Vanjari community which did not mention any form of disability.

Meanwhile, Dr Khedkar's father, a retired bureaucrat defending her daughter claimed that her daughter's disability certificate is legitimate.

Speaking to the Hindustan Times, He said, “There are many kinds of disabilities. Puja suffers from vision impairment, which is more than 40 per cent. Therefore she fulfils 40% criteria of the disability. Medical experts on a panel had verified her disabilities before issuing the certificate." "My daughter has a certain category of mental illness which was also verified by medical professionals before the disability certificate was issued," he added. 

Medical Dialogues team had reported that her Maharashtra Medical Council registration and National Medical Council records mentioned her registration as an MBBS however no specialisation or super specialization degree was mentioned in the records. Now doubts have been raised regarding the legitimacy of her medical qualifications, prompting questions about the credibility of her professional history.

Khedkar has been accused of securing her MBBS admission at Shrimati Kashibai Navale Medical College and General Hospital, Pune in 2007 under the Other Backward Class (OBC) Nomadic Tribe-3 category of the Vanjari community by using an OBC caste certificate. The statement in this regard came from the Director of the medical college Arvind Bhore.

The controversy around Dr Puja Khedkar:

The 34-year-old IAS trainee officer is in the eye of the storm for allegedly misusing the disability of ‘blindness and mental illness’, Other Backward Class quota to secure a position in the IAS and her power. She has been accused of demanding a separate cabin, car, residential quarters and a peon before her appointment.

Khedkar, gained the attention of the media and the government after Pune Collector Suhas Diwase submitted a 25-page report to Nitin Gadre, the additional chief secretary accusing her of asking for privileges not typically provided to trainee officers which included demands for a separate office, official vehicle, staff and others. Diwase also accused her of using a private Audi car with a red-blue beacon light and a VIP number plate.

The Centre on Thursday formed a one-member panel to investigate the controversy involving Dr Khedkar. Official sources on Friday told the news agency that she may be terminated from service if found guilty.

They said all documents presented by her to secure her candidature in the civil services examination and then for selection in the service will be re-examined by a single-member committee.

Also read- IAS Trainee, Dr Puja Khedkar Under Scanner For Alleged Misuse Of Power, An Endocrinologist?