Puja Khedkar Age, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Other Names	• Pooja Khadekar • Dr. Puja Khadekar
Profession	Former Indian Administrative Service Officer
Physical Stats
Height (approx.)	5' 6" (168 cm)
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Dark Brown
Career (Civil Service)
Service	Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
Batch	2023
Cadre	Maharashtra
Service Years	2023-2024
Personal Life
Date of Birth	16 January 1990 (Tuesday)
Age (as of 2024)	34 Years
Birthplace	Ahmednagar, Maharashtra
Zodiac sign	Capricorn
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Ahmednagar, Maharashtra
College/University	Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nashik, Maharashtra
Educational Qualification	M.B.B.S in Paediatrics with first division
Controversy	Moved to Washim over various allegations In July 2024, Puja Khedkar was officially moved to Washim in Maharashtra to complete her training as she was reported to make unreasonable demands while serving as an IAS officer on probation.
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Unmarried
Family
Parents	Father- Dilip Khedkar (Politician & former civil servant) Mother- Manorama Khedkar (Sarpanch of a village in Maharashtra)
Style Quotient
Car Collection	Audi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Puja Khedkar

• Puja belongs to a family of bureaucrats and politicians from Pathardi tehsil in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

• In 2022, she cleared the UPSC exam and became an IAS officer. She was first posted as an Additional Collector in Pune.

• In 2022, Puja reached out to CAT to apply for reservations for the persons with disability for A (visual impairment) and D (mental disability) categories as provided under section 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016.

• After she was admitted to the services, she was asked to appear for additional medical exams; however, she skipped her medical exams.

• On 22 April 2022, she was asked to appear for a medical exam to confirm her disabilities; however, she refused to attend it saying that she was COVID-19 positive.

• On 26 May 2022 and 27 May 2022, she was again asked to appear for her medical examination at the Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, but she did not appear for the examination.

• In September, she was called for an MRI of her eye disability at AIIMS, Delhi, but she did not appear for the examinations despite many calls from the Duty officer at AIIMS.

• Later, she submitted her reports from a private hospital claiming that she was disabled.

• She came into the limelight after she made unreasonable demands and privileges like a separate office, house, car, and staff (including a constable). These facilities are not given to any officers on probation.

• Later, several reports claimed that she got her demands fulfilled because of her father’s influence as he is a former IAS officer.

• There were more allegations claiming she allegedly faked mental illness and visual impairment to secure a disability certificate and appear for the UPSC exam.

• There were more complaints claiming that she used Pune Additional Collector Ajay More’s office, while he was away. She also removed his nameplate and furniture from the office.

• These allegations led to a report being submitted by Pune District Collector Suhas Diwase to the General Administration Department (GAD) which further led to Khedkar being transferred to Washim district to complete the remaining term of her training on the post of “supernumerary assistant collector.”

• She was also accused of faking her caste certificate to clear the civil services exam.

• In 2024, an RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar demanded a thorough investigation into Puja Khedkar’s recruitment in the service. A following investigation revealed that her family combined owned assets worth more than Rs. 40 crores.

• Vijay also questioned how she managed to be posted in her hometown when it had never happened before.

• On 15 July 2024, her mother was booked in a land dispute case after a video surfaced in which she was allegedly threatening some persons with a gun at Dhadwali village in Pune’s Mulshi tehsil.

• On 16 July 2024, she filed a harassment complaint against Pune district collector Suhas Diwase at Washim.

• On 19 July 2024, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) registered a criminal case against her and issued a show cause notice to cancel her candidature from Civil Services Examination-2022. UPSC said in a statement,
  

  It has been revealed that she fraudulently availed attempts beyond the permissible limit under the Examination Rules by faking her identity by way of changing her name, her father’s & mother’s name, her photograph/ signature, her email ID, mobile number and address.”

• On 31 July 2024, the UPSC cancelled her provisional candidature for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) 2022 and debarred her permanently from all future Examinations/Selections of the UPSC. Later, the Indian government terminated her services as an IAS officer.

• Khedkar filed an anticipatory bail plea at the Patiala House Court in New Delhi after the UPSC filed a complaint against her and cancelled her candidature. The court rejected the bail plea on 1 August 2023.