City
Epaper

UPSC Scans 15 Years of Data, Finds Puja Khedkar as Only Rule Violator Among 15K IAS Candidates

By IANS | Updated: July 31, 2024 18:24 IST

Mumbai, July 31: Taking serious cognisance of the complaints against 2023 Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, the ...

Open in App

Mumbai, July 31: Taking serious cognisance of the complaints against 2023 Maharashtra cadre probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, the UPSC carried out an unprecedented scrutiny of the number of attempts availed by over 15,000 IAS candidates for 15 years, as per an official statement. After a thorough examination of the Civil Service Examinations (CSE) from 2009 to 2023 for over 15,000 finally recommended candidates, it has emerged that only Puja Khedkar flouted the rules.

Accordingly, the UPSC on Wednesday cancelled her provisional candidature for CSE-2022, and permanently debarred her from all future exams/selections. “After this detailed exercise, barring the case of Puja Khedkar, no other candidate was found to have availed more number of attempts than permitted under the CSE Rules,” said the UPSC.Also Read: UPSC Cancels Puja Khedkar's Provisional Candidature, Imposes Lifetime Ban on Future Exams.

In the lone case of Puja Khedkar, the UPSC admitted that its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) “could not detect her number of attempts primarily because she changed not only her name but also her parents’ names”. The UPSC said it is now in the process of further strengthening its SOPs to plug any possible loopholes to ensure that such a case does not recur in the future.

Regarding the complaints pertaining to the submission of false certificates (specifically OBC and PwBD categories), the UPSC said that “it only does a preliminary scrutiny of the certificates, viz. whether the certificate has been issued by the competent authority, the issuing year, date, whether there is any overwriting on the certificate, its format, etc.”

“Generally, the certificate is taken as genuine if it has been issued by the competent authority. The UPSC neither has the mandate nor the wherewithal to check the veracity of thousands of certificates submitted by the candidates every year.

"However, it is understood that scrutiny and verification of genuineness of certificates is carried out by the authorities mandated with the task,” the UPSC said.

The UPSC, Central government, Maharashtra government, and the police are conducting separate probes against Puja Khedkar, while the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie recently removed her from field training as a trainee IAS officer in Pune and Washim districts.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Tags: UpscPuja KhedkarPooja KhedkarIAS officer
Open in App

Related Stories

MaharashtraWho Is Ashima Mittal? IAS Officer from Jaipur Takes Charge as Jalna District Collector

NashikPuja Khedkar’s Non-Creamy Layer OBC Certificate Declared Invalid

National“I Can’t Breathe. Please Save Me”: UPSC Aspirant’s Last Message Before Dying in Delhi's Karol Bagh Fire

NationalFormer Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar Appointed UPSC Chairman

MaharashtraUPSC Cheating Case: Pooja Khedkar Denies Allegations of Exam Fraud, Name Change and Fake Disability Certificate

National Realted Stories

NationalBengal: Four sentenced to life imprisonment for burning woman and her daughter alive

NationalUnion Agriculture Minister warns of black marketing during farmers' meet in Patna

BusinessED Makes First Arrest in Rs 3,000-Crore Anil Ambani Loan Fraud Case

NationalPrajwal Revanna case: Attempts made to delay verdict but victim stood like a rock, says SIT chief

NationalRahul Gandhi calls for reflection on electoral integrity, Constitutional values