Quicksplained: Trainee IAS officer Pooja Khedkar under scanner for OBC non-creamy layer status: What is it?

Probationary IAS officer Pooja Khedkar is embroiled in a major controversy. She came to the limelight after reports of her unauthorised use of a beacon on her private car, and demands for a separate office and official car emerged.

Now, questions have arisen over her allegedly availing of Other Backward Class (OBC) benefits for her appointment as a trainee IAS officer while belonging to a well-to-do family. Only non-creamy layer OBC candidates are eligible for reservation benefits in jobs and educational institutions.

The 2023-batch IAS officer’s disability claim of suffering from “blindness and mental illness” which gave her concessions under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities category is also being questioned.

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What’s the controversy? What is a non-creamy layer?

1. Khedkar ’s appointment under the OBC non-creamy layer has come under the scanner. She is the daughter of Dilip Khedkar, who contested Lok Sabha elections on a Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) ticket.

2. According to Pune RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, Dilip Khedkar’s poll affidavit showed an estimated wealth of Rs 40 crore and an annual income of Rs 49 lakh, reported Times of India (TOI).

3. Pooja owns five plots of land and two apartments across Maharashtra worth Rs 22 crore, NDTV reported citing her “statement of immovable property for the year 2023”.

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4. She is the owner of two plots of land in Pune district’s Mahalunge valued at nearly Rs 16 crore, one in Dhadawali worth Rs 4 crore, two in Ahmednagar’s Pachunde and Nandur – a gift from her mother – worth Rs 25 lakh and Rs 1 crore, respectively, as per the NDTV report.

5. Pooja has one apartment in Ahmednagar’s Savedi has been pegged at Rs 45 lakh and Pune’s Kondhwa worth Rs 75 lakh. All of these assets, which were obtained between 2014 and 2019, give her an earning of Rs 42 lakh every year, the report added.

6. Pooja, who used the “Government of Maharashtra" sticker on her private vehicle – an Audi sedan, had declared she belonged to the OBC non-creamy layer in her Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) candidature. But what is it?

7. A non-creamy layer (NCL) certificate is issued to individuals on the basis of their parents’ status. For those who want to qualify as an OBC non-creamy layer candidate, their parents’ annual income or the yearly income of the family should not be more than Rs 8 lakh.

8. Any one of the parents should be employed as a Group C or Group D officer by the Central government. If the husband is a Central government employee and the wife’s parents do not have a stable income, she can apply for an OBC NCL certificate.

9. Those in the OBC (non-creamy) list get 27 per cent reservations in government jobs and educational institutes. They also get age relaxation in various exams, including UPSC. There is also relaxation in cut-off marks in exams.

10. Meanwhile, the Centre has formed a single-member panel to verify the “candidature claims and other details” submitted by Pooja. An additional secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) will look into the matter and submit a report within two weeks.

11. Amid the controversy, Pooja has been transferred from the Pune district collector’s office to Washim. Earlier this month, Pune district collector Suhas Diwase said in a report that she “sought special privileges, which were not allowed to an IAS probationary officer.” He also flagged Pooja and her father’s “objectionable behaviour” to the state government.

With inputs from agencies