Puja Khedkar is accused of fraudulently clearing the civil services examination held by the UPSC
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Friday discharged former trainee officer Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) after finding her “ineligible” to be a candidate for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) in 2022, DoPT sources said on Saturday.
This comes over a month after the Union Public Service Commission cancelled Khedkar’s candidature for CSE 2022 following allegations of forgery and misconduct against her. According to the UPSC, she allegedly changed her name from Puja Diliprao Khedkar to Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar to appear for the examination beyond the maximum number of attempts allowed, and also changed the names of her parents.
Through an order dated September 6, 2024, the Central Government discharged Khedkar under Rule 12 of IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954 — which provides for the discharge of a probationer found to be ineligible — with immediate effect, said a DoPT source.
