IAS Pooja Khedkar has 7% locomotor disability: Pune-based private hospital

Controversial trainee IAS Pooja Khedkar is accused of forging documents to claim disability and OBC reservation quota to secure UPSC seat

Trainee IAS officer Pooja Khedkar, mired in controversy over the alleged misuse of her privileges and faking reservation claims, has seven per cent locomotor disability, the dean of Pune-based YCM Hospital said on Tuesday.

Dr Rajendra Wable, the dean of YCM Hospital, from where Khedkar acquired her Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) certificate, revealed that “she (Khedkar) applied in the month of August 2022 for disability certification regarding her left limb knee joint…She was assessed by our multiple departments. In the end, it was found that she has a 7 per cent locomotor disability..."

Khedkar is accused of  forging documents to secure her UPSC seat in the PwBD category. Under this category, a candidate is required to produce a valid document of acquiring a disability to the extent of 40 per cent or more to get the benefit.

Centre forms panel to probe Pooja Khedkar's documents

Last week, the Centre formed a one-member panel to probe the documents related to Khedkar’s candidature after a series of allegations emerged about her allegedly forging caste and and disability quota claims to secure the UPSC seat.

She is part of the 2023 UPSC batch and was posted as a trainee in Pune when she found herself in the middle of a controversy related to her indulging in unauthorised use of power. Khedkar is accused of using a red-blue beacon and a board of Maharashtra government, on her private Audi car.

She is also accused of using the office of Additional Collector Ajay More without consent and removing the office furniture on her own will. Among other charges, Khedkar is accused of trying to save a relative by putting pressure on the authorities.

As the matter came to the spotlight, she was transferred to Washim and now faces an inquiry.

Pooja Khedkar's father defends daughter's caste certificate

Khedkar’s father, Dilip Khedkar who is a former bureaucrat, is said to be involved in pressuring the authorities to fulfil his daughter’s demands.

Dilip Khedkar is now active in Maharashtra politics and had declared over Rs 40 crore assets, including land, in his Lok Sabha election candidate's affidavit from Ahmednagar seat, which he failed to win.

On Sunday, he told a Marathi news channel that his daughter indeed belongs to the OBC-non creamy layer (with less than Rs 8 lakh annual family income). “…The classification as creamy-layer depends on income rather than (property) valuation," Dilip said, defending his 34-year-old daughter.

On the allegations that Pooja faked her disability, Dilip suggested that many disabilities are not visible but can be identified via tests. “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she missed some check-ups," he said.

Pooja reportedly skipped multiple tests mandated at AIIMS Delhi by the UPSC to verify disability related claims and later submitted an external report, which was initially rejected by the Commission.