Centre Dismisses Controversial Officer Puja Khedkar From IAS, Say Sources
Puja Khedkar was found guilty of cheating and wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits New Delhi: The Centre has discharged Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect, a month after the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) cancelled her selection in one of the most sought-after branches of government service. Ms Khedkar was found guilty of cheating and wrongly availing Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quota benefits. After cancelling her selection, the UPSC had barred her from taking the entrance exam for life. The UPSC found her guilty of faking her identity to take the exam multiple times. Following the controversy, the UPSC had looked into the data of more than 15,000 candidates who cleared the IAS screening process between 2009 and 2023. “After this detailed exercise, barring the case of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, no other candidate has been found to have availed more number of attempts than permitted under the CSE Rules,” the UPSC had said, referring to the Civil Services Examination Rules. Ms Khedkar’s troubles began …