'Happy to Join...': IAS Officer Puja Khedkar Takes Charge in Washim Amid Row

New Delhi: IAS officer Puja Khedkar took on her new position as assistant collector at the Washim District Collectorate in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region on Thursday, despite ongoing controversy. However, she chose not to comment on the allegations against her, instead concentrating on her official responsibilities.  

“I am happy to join duty at the Washim District Collectorate and am looking forward to working here,” she said. Regarding the allegations, she added, “I am not authorized to speak on the issue. Government rules don’t allow me to speak on this,” as quoted by PTI.

Allegations Against Puja Khedkar

For the unversed, IAS officer Puja Khedkar faces several serious allegations. She is accused of submitting fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam, as well as misusing her authority. 

During her tenure as an assistant collector in Pune, Khedkar allegedly availed herself of facilities not allowed for probationary officers and used a red-blue beacon and a Maharashtra government board on her private Audi car. Additionally, she reportedly occupied the chamber of additional collector Ajay More without permission and removed office furniture without consent.

Further controversies involve claims of undue influence from her father, a retired administrative officer who recently ran for the Lok Sabha from Ahmednagar. 

It is alleged that he pressured the district collector's office to meet his daughter's demands. RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar has also questioned Khedkar's appointment, suggesting it was improper since she did not fall under the OBC non-creamy layer category due to her father's assets, reportedly worth ₹40 crore. 

Who is Puja Khedkar?

Pooja Khedkar hails from a family with a notable background in bureaucracy and politics, based in Pathardi tehsil, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra. Her father, Diliprao Khedkar, is a retired Maharashtra Pollution Control Board officer who is now active in politics. Her paternal grandfather was also a senior bureaucrat. Diliprao ran for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi candidate, and Pooja’s mother is the sarpanch of their hometown, Bhalgaon village.

Pooja completed her MBBS and made several attempts at the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams. She reportedly qualified for the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) in 2019 but could not join due to alleged "technical issues in her OBC allocation," as mentioned in a mock interview video. She later applied for and obtained a position as Assistant Director with the Sports Authority of India in November 2021.