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Pune trainee IAS officer, who demanded private cabin and staff, transferred over ‘misuse of power’
A probationary IAS officer in Pune was transferred for allegedly misusing her power as a bureaucrat after she demanded a private cabin and staff.
Puja Khedkar, a probationary IAS officer posted in Pune, has been transferred over alleged misuse of power as a civil servant after she kicked up a controversy with her demands for a private cabin and staff. Khedkar was transferred to the Washim district of central Maharashtra before the completion of her training.
Puja Khedkar, a 2023-batch IAS officer, will complete the remaining term of her training in Washim, and will serve there as a "supernumerary assistant collector" till July 30, 2025, said the official letter.
“The 2023 batch IAS officer will serve the remaining period of her probation as supernumerary assistant collector in Washim district,” the order stated.
Khedkar sparked a controversy when she started making demands for facilities that were not available to probationary officers in the Indian Administrative Service. As per a report submitted by Pune collector Suhas Diwse to the General Administration Department, even before joining duty on June 3, Khedkar repeatedly demanded that she be provided with a separate cabin, car, residential quarters and a peon.
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The trainee officer was told that she does not qualify for such facilities while on probation, and accommodation will be provided to her as per the rules.
She was also accused of removing the nameplate of a senior official at the Pune collector's office when he allowed her to use his ante-chamber as her office. Khedkar was occupying the ante-chamber of additional collector Ajay More while he was away and allegedly moved the furniture from his office without consent. She also demanded a letterhead, nameplate and other facilities in her name, reported NDTV.
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The trainee IAS officer allegedly used a red and blue beacon on top of her private Audi car. A board of ‘The Maharashtra government’ was also attached to her private vehicle, the report said.
Khedkar's father, who is a retired administrative officer, reportedly pressured the District Collector's office to make sure that the demands of the trainee IAS officer were fulfilled.
(With inputs from PTI)
