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