UPSC receives 30 complaints amid Pooja Khedkar controversy over credentials

UPSC has forwarded these complaints to the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), while it remains embroiled in legal disputes with Pooja Khedkar

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has reportedly received over 30 complaints accusing selected candidates of misrepresenting their credentials, following the Pooja Khedkar case, which has continued to make waves two months after the controversy over the disqualified trainee IAS officer began, according to a report by The Economic Times.

UPSC has forwarded these complaints to the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), while it remains embroiled in legal disputes with Khedkar, who is accused of abusing her position and fabricating documents, the report said.

The report quoted sources as saying that if the allegations are substantiated, stringent action is expected.

The government is actively discussing measures to curb the misuse of disability criteria and quota by candidates, with multiple meetings being held on the matter. It has been revealed that many of Pooja Khedkar’s batchmates at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie were aware of her alleged abuse of the disability quota but failed to report it.

Both the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and LBSNAA are reportedly developing a protocol to address these shortcomings and enable better identification of serious concerns, the report said.

In the meantime, the UPSC has updated its software and protocols to prevent frauds involving name changes. The new system can now detect if a candidate’s name, linked to their date of birth, is altered between attempts, the report added.

Additionally, the Commission has tightened its guidelines to stop candidates from exceeding the allowed number of attempts by exploiting similar methods. This issue was identified following the Khedkar case, which exposed gaps in earlier directives, some of which were unclear and did not apply uniformly across states.

The latest UPSC recruitment notices provide comprehensive guidelines to address any potential discrepancies, including those related to name changes. These notices outline the protocol for name changes due to marriage, divorce, remarriage, or other reasons, applicable to both genders. Specifically, it mandates submitting a deed poll or affidavit, verified by an oath commissioner, along with original newspaper clippings from two leading daily newspapers (one from the applicant's permanent or current residence area) and a gazette notification, the report said.

In the case of Pooja Khedkar, the issue of name change went unnoticed mainly because she altered not only her own name but also her parents' names, according to UPSC records.

Khedkar had attempted the civil services exam nine times as an OBC candidate under the name Puja Diliprao Khedkar until the 2020-21 session. After failing to pass the exam within the allowed attempts for OBC candidates, she is alleged to have changed her name to Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar to qualify under the PwBD (Persons with Benchmark Disabilities) quota and subsequently secured rank 841 as a 2023-batch IAS officer.

On July 31, UPSC revealed that it reviewed data from over 15,000 final candidates across CSEs from 2009 to 2023 regarding their attempt records and found only Khedkar’s case as an exception.