Who is IAS Pooja Khedkar?

An IAS officer’s “sense of entitlement” led to a controversy that raised questions about her candidature.

Transcript

00:00Pooja Khedkar, a 2022 batch IAS officer,

00:03apparently submitted fake disability and other backward classes certificates to clear the exam.

00:09Several things she said about her life in a mock IAS interview

00:13and actual details about her life didn't add up.

00:18Pooja was assigned to the Maharashtra Kedar.

00:21In her disability claim, she said she suffered from mental illness and blindness.

00:25But when she was called for a medical examination at AIIMS,

00:28she didn't show up. She later submitted a private hospital's report to back her claims.

00:33While appearing for the Union Public Service Commission exam,

00:36Pooja said she belonged to the OBC non-creamy layer.

00:39The non-creamy layer is restricted to an annual income of less than 8 lakh rupees.

00:44But her father showed assets worth 40 crore rupees in his Lok Sabha election affidavit.

00:49Her father, Dilip, was a government officer turned politician.

00:53He contested the Lok Sabha elections from the Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra.

00:57Her mother was a Sarpanch in their family village.

01:00But after Pooja's controversy, an old video of her mother brandishing a gun went viral.

01:27Pooja was assigned as an assistant collector on probation at the Pune District Collectorate

01:36in June 2024. A month later, Pune District Collector Suhas Devase flagged her and her

01:42father's objectionable behaviour to the state government.

01:45He wrote that she had a sense of entitlement and unrealistic expectations because she was an IAS.

01:50Pooja allegedly demanded a separate cabin and staff and used a red-blue beacon and a

01:56VIP number plate on her private Audi car.

02:26Devase alleged that Pooja occupied a part of her senior's office and when she was asked to vacate,

02:32her father allegedly threatened a tehsildar against purposely troubling his daughter.

02:36Before she could complete her training, Pooja was transferred from Pune

02:40to Vashim district where she joined duty on 11 July 2024.

02:45The centre constituted a panel to probe her

02:47candidature and ordered it to submit a report within two weeks.

02:56you