Govt probed social media complaints against 20 bureaucrats over fake income, disability certificates to avail reservation benefits
While the probe has cleared most of the names, one officer is still under investigation.
Officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Revenue Service (IRS), and those from other Union government services with several years of service faced the probe following complaints on social media last year, officials said.
The income, caste and physical disability documents submitted by at least 40 of 1,009 candidates who cleared the CSE 2024 are also being investigated, the official added. Results of the examination were announced in April this year.
Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Personnel and Grievances, said at a press conference on Wednesday that investigations were conducted whenever a complaint was received, but the issue was too big to be left to the Ministry alone. It required cooperation from the larger society as it had a social-cultural genesis, he said, on aspirants who submit fraudulent certificates to avail reservation in Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) categories.
In 2024, IAS probationer Puja Khedkar was sacked for submitting fake PwBD and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the 2022 civil services examination. A criminal case was lodged against her.
The Minister said after the Puja Khedkar row surfaced, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) is also keeping track of activities of the fresh recruits after they leave the training centre and informally gathers information when they begin to serve in the districts.
After the row came to the fore, social media users pointed out cases of nearly 15 serving officers in various services who had availed reservation through fraudulent documents.
A.P Das Joshi, Additional Secretary, DoPT said that after the Khedkar case, the medical test mechanism for PwBD candidates has been streamlined.
'We received complaints on social media, a thorough enquiry was done, and in most cases nothing specific was found. There is only one case that we are investigating further,' Mr. Joshi said.
Another government official said that income certificates are verified through State governments and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and if a candidate's claim is found to be false, they are not allotted any service.
Since 2019, candidates who are not covered by the reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs and whose annual family income is below ₹8 lakh are entitled to 10% reservation under the EWS quota. Around 4% posts are reserved for PwBD candidates in the Civil Services Examination.
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