Dilip Khedkar, the father of trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar, defended his daughter and denied all accusations against her, stating that she is being wrongly targeted.
Talking to India Today TV, Dilip Khedkar spoke about the controversy over his daughter’s actions and behaviour in Pune as a probationary officer. He argued that asking for a place to sit is not wrong.
Puja Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer from Maharashtra, has been accused of abusing her power. She allegedly asked for a separate office, a car, and a house before starting her role as Assistant Collector in Pune.
“My daughter has not done anything wrong. Is a woman asking for a space to sit wrong? The matter is subjudice and a committee has been appointed to look into it. Let us all wait for the final verdict. All I can say is that someone is deliberately trying to make it an issue,” said Dilip Khedkar.
When asked who he thought was behind the controversy, Dilip did not name anyone.
When questioned about Puja’s application category, he said, “We will present our case to the committee. Legal proceedings are underway and it would not be appropriate to comment on the matter at this time. Everything was done according to the rules and there was no wrongdoing.”
Regarding why Puja did not go to AIIMS in Delhi for a disability evaluation, Dilip said this was not true.
“UPSC has rigorous rules. It involves a medical board of 20–25 people at the hospital, and it is impossible to submit fraudulent documents,” he said.
Puja Khedkar was recently transferred from Pune to Washim due to her alleged inappropriate demands and behaviour.
She also reportedly put a beacon and Maharashtra state government insignia on her luxury Audi car without permission.
There are also claims that she used Other Backward Class (OBC) benefits and disability concessions to get her position in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).
The Central Government has set up a committee to investigate her conduct and selection process.
