IAS trainee Puja Khedkar used false address, fake ration card to get disability certificate, say reports

PTC Web Desk: Puja Khedkar, a trainee IAS officer, is accused of misusing the UPSC reservation quota by using a false address and a fake ration card to obtain a disability certificate, as reported by India Today.

Puja Khedkar faced scrutiny and was transferred from Pune to Washim amid suspicions of forgery and misuse of the reservation policy for disabled individuals and those from the OBC non-creamy layer category.

Puja Khedkar also submitted an address at plot number 53, Dehu-Alandi, Talwade to Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCM), claiming it as her residence in the Pimpri Chinchwad region. However, this address was actually the location of a defunct company, Thermoverita Engineering Private Ltd.

India Today accessed documents revealing that this false address was used to create a fake ration card. Puja Khedkar then utilised these falsified documents to obtain a disability certificate from YCM hospital in Pune, stating that she had a locomotor disability.

The certificate, issued on August 24, 2022, claimed that Puja Khedkar had a seven percent disability in her knee. Additionally, an Audi car was registered under Thermoverita Engineering, the company occupying Khedkar’s fake address. According to the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipality’s tax department, the company has Rs 2.7 lakh in pending dues from the past three years.

Beyond these allegations, Puja Khedkar also faces charges of misuse of power and threatening police officials. On Tuesday evening, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Pune submitted a detailed report to the state, implicating Dilip Khedkar, Puja’s father, for amassing disproportionate assets during his tenure as director of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) until 2020.

Puja Khedkar’s training has been suspended, and she has been summoned to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration for appropriate action. Despite the accusations, she maintains her innocence, calling the claims against her ‘fake news.’ She has also filed a harassment case against the Pune district collector, who ordered her transfer to Washim.