Was Pooja Khedkar the only one?

Touted as one of the 'toughest competitive exams in the world', the Union Public Service Commission, popularly also known as the Civil Services, is considered the gateway to some of India's most reputable, prestigious, and secure jobs in the administrative (IAS), police (IPS) and allied services.

The road to becoming a civil servant is a long, arduous and potentially heart-breaking one, with a pass percentage of a mere 0.2, that is two out of 100 candidates. Just last year, roughly 13 lakh aspirants appeared for the UPSC preliminaries for a mere 1,255 vacancies. Of these, only 14,624 made the cut-off to proceed to the next stage, known as mains, where the competition gets even more brutal as more candidates are eliminated ahead of the final interview stage.

While the number of students appearing each year has seen a constant rise, the number of students selected remains constant, making it tougher to crack the exam with every passing year.

The holy grail of Indian competitive exams has taken a severe beating, however, with the recent shocking case of alleged cheating courtesy probationary IAS officer Pooja Khedkar, currently under the scanner for alleged misuse of power and privilege, the tamest allegation being her use of a red-blue beacon and a Maharashtra government board on her private Audi car, which the rules do not allow.  

Khedkar, who secured an all-India rank of 841 in the UPSC exam 2023, is currently on a 24-month probation after being transferred from Maharashtra’s Pune to Washim district. On 17 July, she was recalled to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie — the training centre for all future IAS (Indian Administrative Service), IPS (Indian Police Services) and other services officers — until the probe against her is complete.

Her modest rank most certainly does not allow her to join the IAS, but reports have surfaced about how she allegedly lied about her mental and visual condition to obtain a disability certificate to join the elite service. There have been other reports claiming that she also submitted a fake certificate stating that she belonged to the OBC category, enabling her to obtain further concessions

In her affidavit to the UPSC, Khedkar claimed she was visually impaired, thus availing concessions offered to the specially-abled. However, she reportedly evaded the compulsory medical test (a requirement for specially-abled candidates), not once but five times.

Khedkar's conduct, as highlighted in an Indian Express report, raises serious concerns not only about her behaviour as a future civil servant, but the allegations, if substantiated, could mean violations of the Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1964.

Any potential disciplinary action against her hinges on the findings of the investigation, falling under the purview of the cadre-controlling authority, which, in the case of the IAS, rests with the department of personnel and training.

While Khedkar's case is shocking enough, it unfortunately may not be the only one. Earlier this year, Praful Desai, an IAS officer from Telangana, came under the scanner for allegedly falsifying a disability to clear the UPSC exam in 2019.

Desai, who serves as additional collector of Karimnagar, used the orthopedically handicapped quota to get into the service, but later photos of him cycling, playing tennis, rafting, and horse riding went viral on social media, making people question his claims. However, Desai vehemently denied the charges and said his disability (45 per cent in left leg due to polio) does not mean he can't walk at all.

But the genie of suspicion can probably no longer be forced back into its bottle. A case like Khedkar's has the potential to undermine trust in one of the nation’s most esteemed institutions, known as a bastion of meritocracy where nepotism holds no sway — a beacon of excellence that rigorously filters and selects the best to govern the country.

Simultaneously, the case appears to validate public suspicions about government machinery — allegations of abuse of power, corruption, and susceptibility to influence by the affluent and influential. Psychologically, this reinforces fears that in India, connections will always supersede accountability.

What makes it even more disturbing is that for the lakhs of students appearing for the test each year, a single attempt could take up to two complete years of preparation — one year before the prelims and one year from the prelims to the interview.

Even with such stringent preparation, only about a thousand will land jobs in the IAS, IPS, Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IA&AS) Indian Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) and others.

A 2021 study reveals that about 50 per cent of successful UPSC exam candidates are from reserved categories. For many in the less privileged sections of society, the exam represents a pathway to upward mobility based on merit and hard work.

The question now is, if Khedkar allegedly faked her way into this rarefied domain, how many more may have emulated her but never been caught?