Amid Puja Khedkar Row, Disability Certificates Of Six Civil Servants Under Scrutiny

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is set to review the disability certificates of six civil servants, including probationers and current officials, India Today reported citing sources.

This comes amid huge controversy over allegations against former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, who is accused of using fraudulent disability and OBC certificates to secure her selection.

The DoPT has reportedly written to Director General of Health Services (DGHS) to re-examine the disability status of the candidates by a medical board.

The medical certificates of these six civil servants were flagged on social media.

According to the UPSC rules, candidates should have at least 40 percent disability to avail reservation benefits.

Additionally, the UPSC provides age relaxation, increased attempt limits, and special provisions at exam centres for specially-abled candidates.

Khedkar reportedly received a 7 per cent locomotor disability certificate from Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial (YCM) Hospital in 2022 despite the physiotherapy department reporting no disability.

Khedkar allegedly used the certificate to appear for the civil service exam more times than permissible in violation of rules.

Earlier this week, the UPSC cancelled Khedkar's provisional candidature in the 2022 civil services examination (CSE) and barred her from appearing for any future exams.

Following a complaint by the UPSC, the Delhi Police have registered a case against Khedkar in connection with this matter.

The UPSC said that it examined the data of over 15,000 candidates and discovered that only Khedkar had exceeded the permissible number of attempts.

It was "primarily due to the fact that she changed not only her name but also her parents' name", the UPSC said.

Regarding Khedkar's use of false disability and caste certificates, the UPSC stated that it carries out preliminary scrutiny and considers the certificates genuine if they are 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," it said.

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