PUNE: Probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar had in Aug 2022 simultaneously applied for disability certificates for locomotor disability from District Civil Hospital, Aundh, and Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital, Pimpri, both in Pune, report Nisha Nambiar & Swati Shinde Gole.
She did so despite having secured disability certificates for low vision in 2018 and for mental depression and low vision in 2021 from the Ahmednagar district hospital.The District Civil Hospital at Aundh had rejected her application because of “double submission”, while Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH), Pimpri, granted a 7% locomotor disability certificate citing an old ACL tear.
By 2022, she was an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, posted as assistant director with Sports Authority of India (SAI) since 2021. She had been selected for IRS under OBC category and PwBD (low vision). However, when Khedkar wrote the UPSC exam again that year, she was selected for IAS under OBC and PwBD (MD), meaning multiple disabilities/categories. It appears that the three different disability certificates helped her get the IAS selection under MD quota, besides the OBC quota with non-creamy layer certificate.
Dr Nagnath Yempalle, civil surgeon at District Civil Hospital, Aundh, on Monday told TOI, “Khedkar obtained a 7% disability certificate for locomotor disability on August 24, 2022, from YCMH. On Oct 11, 2022, we rejected her application dated Aug 23, 2022, on the grounds of the Unique Disability ID (UDID) website showing presence of two concurrent applications. She had applied for the certificate twice. We consequently rejected her application.”
In 2019, in her civil services prelims exam, the IAS trainee had registered herself as Khedkar Puja Deeliprao, and her appointment in SAI was also in the same name with Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) (LV) – OBC. However, in her 2022 service allocation by Union Public Services Commission (UPSC), where she was selected for IAS, she went by the name Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar under the PwBD-multiple disabilities (MD) category. In a Central Administrative Tribunal, Mumbai bench, order dated Feb 23, 2023, her name as the applicant was mentioned as Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar.
TOI on Monday made repeated calls and sent text messages to Khedkar seeking her version on the matter. She did not respond till the time of going to press. Dr Rajendra Wable, dean of Postgraduate Institute at YCMH, Pimpri, told TOI that he certified a 7% locomotor disability to Puja Khedkar. “We believe her online application at Aundh hospital was automatically cancelled because the certificate had already been generated at YCMH,” he said.
The YCMH disability certificate stated, “The diagnosis in her case is an old ACL tear with left knee instability. She has a 7% permanent disability in relation to her left lower limb as per the guidelines.”
In Pune, nine centres, including Sassoon General Hospital, District Civil Hospital, Aundh, YCMH, Pimpri, and Kamala Nehru Hospital, are designated to conduct assessments to certify a person’s condition, following which disability certificates are generated.
Meanwhile, Ahmednagar’s district civil surgeon Dr Sanjay Ghogare submitted a report to the Ahmednagar collector on Monday, detailing two certificates previously issued in 2018 and 2021. The report disclosed that Khedkar had been diagnosed with a 40% vision impairment; and in 2021, she was granted a certificate for depression and low vision, with the auto-generated disability assessed at 51% by the civil hospital in Ahmednagar. He mentioned that the collector would submit the report to the divisional commissioner and the state disability commissioner.
The report stated, “On April 25, 2018, Puja Khedkar was examined by an ophthalmic surgeon for her vision problem and was found to be suffering from BE High Myopia with Myopic degeneration, with a 40% permanent disability. Accordingly, she was issued a Disability Certificate of SADM (Software for Assessment of Disability) on April 25, 2018. These details are available at the civil hospital at Ahmednagar.”
The report added, “On January 18, 2021, she was examined for psychiatric illness by psychiatrists. Indian Disability and Evaluation Assessment Scale, according to the assessment, found her to be suffering from depression.”
As per UDID, she was issued a certificate on January 18, 2021, which shows low vision in both eyes (40% disability) and mental illness, brain depression (20% disability), the report stated, and the auto-generated disability was 51%. Khedkar had submitted a medical fitness certificate upon admission to her MBBS degree course in 2007 at Shrimati Kashibai Navale Medical College, along with the nomadic tribe-3 certificate under the OBC category.
(With inputs from Gitesh Shelke)
She did so despite having secured disability certificates for low vision in 2018 and for mental depression and low vision in 2021 from the Ahmednagar district hospital.The District Civil Hospital at Aundh had rejected her application because of “double submission”, while Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH), Pimpri, granted a 7% locomotor disability certificate citing an old ACL tear.
By 2022, she was an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, posted as assistant director with Sports Authority of India (SAI) since 2021. She had been selected for IRS under OBC category and PwBD (low vision). However, when Khedkar wrote the UPSC exam again that year, she was selected for IAS under OBC and PwBD (MD), meaning multiple disabilities/categories. It appears that the three different disability certificates helped her get the IAS selection under MD quota, besides the OBC quota with non-creamy layer certificate.
Dr Nagnath Yempalle, civil surgeon at District Civil Hospital, Aundh, on Monday told TOI, “Khedkar obtained a 7% disability certificate for locomotor disability on August 24, 2022, from YCMH. On Oct 11, 2022, we rejected her application dated Aug 23, 2022, on the grounds of the Unique Disability ID (UDID) website showing presence of two concurrent applications. She had applied for the certificate twice. We consequently rejected her application.”
In 2019, in her civil services prelims exam, the IAS trainee had registered herself as Khedkar Puja Deeliprao, and her appointment in SAI was also in the same name with Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) (LV) – OBC. However, in her 2022 service allocation by Union Public Services Commission (UPSC), where she was selected for IAS, she went by the name Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar under the PwBD-multiple disabilities (MD) category. In a Central Administrative Tribunal, Mumbai bench, order dated Feb 23, 2023, her name as the applicant was mentioned as Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar.
TOI on Monday made repeated calls and sent text messages to Khedkar seeking her version on the matter. She did not respond till the time of going to press. Dr Rajendra Wable, dean of Postgraduate Institute at YCMH, Pimpri, told TOI that he certified a 7% locomotor disability to Puja Khedkar. “We believe her online application at Aundh hospital was automatically cancelled because the certificate had already been generated at YCMH,” he said.
The YCMH disability certificate stated, “The diagnosis in her case is an old ACL tear with left knee instability. She has a 7% permanent disability in relation to her left lower limb as per the guidelines.”
In Pune, nine centres, including Sassoon General Hospital, District Civil Hospital, Aundh, YCMH, Pimpri, and Kamala Nehru Hospital, are designated to conduct assessments to certify a person’s condition, following which disability certificates are generated.
Meanwhile, Ahmednagar’s district civil surgeon Dr Sanjay Ghogare submitted a report to the Ahmednagar collector on Monday, detailing two certificates previously issued in 2018 and 2021. The report disclosed that Khedkar had been diagnosed with a 40% vision impairment; and in 2021, she was granted a certificate for depression and low vision, with the auto-generated disability assessed at 51% by the civil hospital in Ahmednagar. He mentioned that the collector would submit the report to the divisional commissioner and the state disability commissioner.
The report stated, “On April 25, 2018, Puja Khedkar was examined by an ophthalmic surgeon for her vision problem and was found to be suffering from BE High Myopia with Myopic degeneration, with a 40% permanent disability. Accordingly, she was issued a Disability Certificate of SADM (Software for Assessment of Disability) on April 25, 2018. These details are available at the civil hospital at Ahmednagar.”
The report added, “On January 18, 2021, she was examined for psychiatric illness by psychiatrists. Indian Disability and Evaluation Assessment Scale, according to the assessment, found her to be suffering from depression.”
As per UDID, she was issued a certificate on January 18, 2021, which shows low vision in both eyes (40% disability) and mental illness, brain depression (20% disability), the report stated, and the auto-generated disability was 51%. Khedkar had submitted a medical fitness certificate upon admission to her MBBS degree course in 2007 at Shrimati Kashibai Navale Medical College, along with the nomadic tribe-3 certificate under the OBC category.
(With inputs from Gitesh Shelke)