IAS trainee, Dr Puja Khedkar under Scanner for alleged misuse of power, an endocrinologist?

New Delhi: Probationary Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Dr Puja Deeliprao Khedkar, recently came under the spotlight, wrapped in controversy after reports of her allegedly misusing her current position, submitting a fake disability certificate and fake Other Backward Class (OBC) quota to secure a position in the IAS came to light. 

It is to be noted that Dr Puja Deeliprao Khedkar is a medical doctor who claimed to be practising as an endocrinologist. Medical Dialogues team tried to track her super specialization degree but the same could not be found. 

Her official records show that Dr Puja Deeliprao Khedkar has been registered with the Maharastra Medical Council (MMC) since 2013 as an MBBS practitioner. As per medical council records, her registration was valid up to 26th March 2023 and has not been updated after that. Her LinkedIn profile which now stands deleted showed that she has worked as an Endocrinologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi, as per Free Press Journal news report. However, Medical Dailogues found that both her MMC registration, as well as her NMC records, mention her registration as an MBBS with no specialisation or super specialization degree.

Who is an endocrinologist?

An endocrinologist is a doctor who specialises in the diagnosis of endocrine glands and diabetes management. In India, one can become an endocrinologist after doing DM Endocrinology, a 3-year super specialization (SS) course done after a postgraduate medical course. The feeder qualifications of DM endocrinology include MD/DNB in General Medicine and MD/DNB in Paediatrics, as per the NEET SS information bulletin listing the prior entry qualifications for admissions to DM, MCh and DrNB courses.

It is to be noted that in India, an endocrinologist is a super-specialist and as per the National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines for Registered Medical Practitioners (RMP) professional conduct Regulations 2022, " A RMP shall not claim to be a clinical specialist unless he/she has NMC recognized training and qualification in that specific branch of modern medicine." 

The controversy around Dr. Puja Khedkar:

Dr Khedkar, an IAS trainee officer 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.

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As per PTI reports, 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.

“The officer may be terminated from the service if found guilty. She may face criminal charges also in case she is found to have misrepresented a fact or done any sort of manipulation in documents relied upon for her selection,” a source said.

The 34-year-old 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. 

The single-member probe committee of Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training, has been asked to submit its report within two weeks, the sources said.

Who is Pooja Khedkar?

Pooja Khedkar is an IAS trainee officer of the 2022 batch from the Maharashtra Cadre. She is said to have secured rank 821 (Pwd-5) in the UPSC exams. Before appearing for the IAS exam conducted by UPSC, she completed her MBBS and registered herself with the Maharashtra Medical Council in 2013. Her LinkedIn profile which now stands deleted showed that she worked as an Endocrinologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi.

She was assigned to the Pune collectorate on June 3, 2024, as an assistant collector on probation to gain experience before her permanent appointment. Her father is a retired Maharashtra Pollution Control Board officer and her grandfather was also a senior bureaucrat. Her mother is an elected sarpanch of Bhalgaon in Pathardi taluka of Ahmednagar district. 

The 32-year-old probationary IAS officer was transferred from Pune to Washim district in the Vidarbha region before the completion of her training after she kicked up a controversy with demands such as a separate cabin, car and staff. On Thursday, she took charge as an assistant collector at the Washim district collectorate.

When Pune police officials went to Khedkar’s bungalow in Pune on Thursday to inspect the Audi car over the violations on the beacon and VIP number, they found the bungalow gates locked. A Marathi news channel showed her mother, who was inside the gate, trying to shoo away their camera team from the spot.

Khedkar was shunted to Washim after Pune district collector Suhas Diwase wrote to state additional chief secretary Nitin Gadre requesting him to consider giving a posting to Khedkar in another district to avoid “administrative complications”.

He sought action against Khedkar for her behaviour, including aggressive treatment of junior staff, illegal occupation of the ante-chamber of additional collector Ajay More, and violations pertaining to sporting a red beacon on the Audi and flashing it during the day, among others.

Fake disability certificate?

After cracking the UPSC exam, Khedkar was asked to confirm her disability claim of suffering from ‘blindness and mental illness’. 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. Later, it was rescheduled to August 2022 but she failed to appear again. 

She was also asked to undergo a brain MRI to know the cause of vision loss in both her eyes. She submitted an MRI report done at a private facility that supported her claims of disability, which the UPSC rejected, according to Mint report.

Following this, the UPSC approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) challenging Dr Khedkar's selection and the tribunal ruled against her. However, she was still appointed after her MRI report was accepted. 

Financial Background

Her claim of belonging to an OBC caste has also been questioned by Pune-based RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar who alleged that she did not fall under the OBC non-creamy layer.

As per the Daily, Kumbhar said, "She doesn't fall under the OBC non-creamy layer category because her father had assets worth ₹40 crore. As per the rules, only those who come under the OBC non-creme layer category whose parents are under 8 lac per annum of income, but their income shows that it is ₹40 crore. Her parents contested the recent Lok Sabha polls 2024, and all the property details are there in the affidavit," he said.

According to a PTI report, her father is a retired Maharashtra Pollution Control Board officer, her grandfather was also a senior bureaucrat and her mother is an elected sarpanch of Bhalgaon in Pathardi taluka of Ahmednagar district. 

On the other hand, Free Press Journal reported that Khedkar after cracking UPSC appeared in a mock interview where she was asked why she had shown her father's income as zero. In response, she replied that she had separated from her father. The clip of the mock interview has gone viral on social media. However, FPJ reported that the daughter and father met multiple times at the Pune collectorate and her father allegedly pressured officers.