Centre sacks Puja Khedkar from Indian Administrative Service

The central government has discharged Puja Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with immediate effect, over a month after the Union Public Service Commission cancelled her selection, official sources said on Saturday.

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Khedkar, who was a trainee officer from the 2023 batch, has been accused of cheating and wrongly availing Other Backward Classes (OBC) and disability quota benefits to ensure her selection in the government service. She has denied all allegations. The central government, vide order dated September 6, 2024, “discharged" Khedkar from the Indian Administrative Service under Rule 12 of IAS (Probation) Rules, 1954, with immediate effect, the sources said.

An IAS officer is “dismissed" from service while a probationer is "discharged".