Amid Puja Khedkar row, Amitabh Kant seeks probe in UPSC ‘irregularities’
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Amitabh Kant demands review in UPSC disability quota
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, July 20: Former chief executive officer of the Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant, has sought a probe into the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Kant has called for a review of the quota for disability in the UPSC recruitment.
Kant has jumped into the raging controversies surrounding the UPSC in the wake of Puja Khedkar row. The UPSC had filed an FIR against Khedkar for faking certificates for the selection process.
The sharp comment of Kant has come amid reports that the UPSC chairman, Manoj Soni, quit from his post a month ago. The reports suggested that Soni’s resignation was not linked to the raging controversies in the UPSC recruitment.
“Several cases of fraud through UPSC for entry to top Civil Services are being alleged. All such cases must be fully investigated and the sternest action taken,” Kant said in a post in the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
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The former CEO of the Niti Aayog stressed that “selection on the basis of competence and integrity should never get compromised”. He clarified that he was not against the reservation in the recruitment by the UPSC.
“I am in favour of SC/ST or OBC reservation. These reservations should continue, with the creamy layer regulations being enforced,” added Kant.
But the former CEO of the Niti Aayog underscored the allegations of fake certificates being used in the category of disability. He sought a review for the reservation for the disability category.
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“However, the existing reservations for the physically and mentally handicapped and the proposed one per cent reservation for the third gender for the top Civil Services need to be reviewed. They are being misused,” added Kant.
The UPSC in an official statement yesterday had said that Khedkar had faked disability certificates for the selection into IAS. Even while Khedkar had low ranking in the UPSC, she got into IAS because of the disability certificates.
Khedkar had hit the headlines by demanding to use the red beacon on a private vehicle. Her mother has also been arrested for flaunting guns against neighbours in a land dispute.
The resignation of Soni from the post of the chairman of the UPSC has added fodder to the ongoing controversies around the selection process of the Civil Services.
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