IAS officer Puja Khedkar secured MBBS seat in nomadic tribe-3 quota in 2007

PUNE: Probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, embroiled in a controversy over the legitimacy of her certificates, secured MBBS admission to Pune’s Shrimati Kashibai Navale Medical College and General Hospital in 2007 under the reserved nomadic tribe-3 category furnishing a non-creamy layer OBC certificate, college director Arvind Bhore said Saturday.
Khedkar gained admission through the Association of Management of Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges of Maharashtra (AMUPMDC) entrance test, scoring 146 out of 200, said Bhore. AMUPMDC no longer exists after NEET’s introduction.
Khedkar is under multiple investigations for submitting a non-creamy layer certificate to UPSC, despite owning properties worth at least Rs 17 crore, including family gifts. Her selection under the benchmark disabilities category is also under review.

According to Bhore, it was the medical college’s first batch when Khedkar joined. “Khedkar had also attempted the Maharashtra common entrance test for medical admissions. But her AMUPMDC score was higher than the state CET. She had provided a non-creamy layer certificate of the NT-3 category of the Vanjari community at the time of admission. We checked all the documents at the time of submission and found them to be authentic govt records,” Bhore said.
Khedkar’s non-creamy layer certificate was issued by Pathardi sub-divisional office in Ahmednagar in 2007. Her caste and validity certificates were also issued by the same office, according to college records. Bhore mentioned she did not submit any disability certificate at the time of admission.
When TOI contacted Khedkar, her cellphone was switched off. She also hadn’t responded to text messages till the time of going to press.
College records indicate Khedkar scored 83% in Class 10 and 74% in Class 12 state board exams. She earned her MBBS degree in 2011-12 after completing academics and internship at Navale College. During her internship, she was stationed at the community medicine department.
“Her conduct was fine and she passed all her semesters with ease while her internship at the hospital was also completed on time,” Bhore said.