Pune (Maharashtra) : Amidst the ongoing controversy over probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, it has now been revealed that Khedkar had submitted a non-creamy layer OBC Certificate to secure admission to MBBS in 2007.
As per information given by Arvind Bhore, Director of Shrimati Kashibai Navale Medical College and General Hospital, Puja had secured a seat for the MBBS course in the college through the Association of Management of Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges of Maharashtra (AMUPDMC) entrance test and had scored 146 marks out of 200. She was enrolled in the college's first batch in 2007.
Giving further information, Bhore said that she had also taken the CET exams but since she achieved a better score in the AMUPDMC exam the seat was given on that basis. The AMUPMDC exam no longer exists after the introduction of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Khedkar had secured a seat in the college under the reserved Nomadic tribe-3 category, furnishing a non-creamy layer OBC certificate.
Bhore said, "She had provided a non-creamy layer certificate of the NT-3 category of the Vanjari community at the time of the admission. We had checked all the documents at the time of submission and found them to be authentic government records. The issuing authority was from Ahmednagar district."
He also added, "She had submitted her medical fitness certificate and according to that she was medically fit."
Earlier, Pune RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar had raised questions about Khedkar's appointment alleging that she did not fall under the OBC non-creamy layer as her father had assets worth Rs 40 crore. As per the rules, only those come under the OBC non-creme layer category whose parents are under 8 lac per annum of income, but their income shows that it is 40 crore. Her parents contested the recent Lok Sabha polls and all the property details are there in the affidavit," he said.
