Ahmednagar hospital confirms Puja Khedkar’s disability certificates were correct

Questions had been raised about Khedkar’s ‘disabilities’ following a controversy over her conduct, which led to her being transferred from Pune to Washim.

The medical boards of the Ahmednagar district hospital had issued Khedkar a visual disability certificate in 2018 and a mental disability certificate in 2021, respectively. The then board had also issued her a combined certificate for medical disabilities in 2021. The authenticity of these certificates was verified and it was concluded that they were correct, the latest report states.

As per the latest report, Dr S V Raskar, an ophthalmic surgeon, had examined Khedkar on April 25, 2018, and certified that she was suffering from “BE High Myopia with myopic degeneration with 40 per cent permanent disability”. Accordingly, she was issued a disability certificate.

Later, on January 18, 2021, Khedkar was examined for psychiatric illness by Dr Yogesh Gadekar, a psychiatrist, and Minal Katkol, a clinical psychologist. She was assessed under the Indian Disability Evaluation and Assessment Scale and was found to be suffering from depression, the latest report states.

Khedkar shot into the limelight over her alleged demands for a separate office, official car and the unauthorised use of a beacon on her private car – all facilities she was not entitled to have. After her appointment by allegedly availing Other Backward Class (OBC) benefits and disability concessions came under suspicion, the Centre formed a one-member committee to look into her conduct. The committee is expected to submit a report in two weeks.

She was issued a certificate that shows low vision in both eyes (40 per cent disability) and mental illness and brain depression (20 per cent disability). An auto-generated disability was 51 per cent, and accordingly, a certificate was issued, the report said.

The authenticity of these certificates was verified and it was concluded that they were correct. “As per the norms, Khedkar has 40 per cent disability related to low vision. She was also suffering from depression – which was temporary in nature (duration of three years from date of issue),” the report has said.