Until recently, I had never doubted the sanctity of the UPSC exam.
I have been through it myself multiple times and interacted with dozens, if not hundreds, of officers through the years. The recent case of IAS probationer Pooja Khedkar has brought shock and disgrace, in equal measure, to the civil services community.
Pooja Khedkar’s conduct, as has been reported in the media and observed unofficially, seems quite unbecoming of an officer and at the very least, calls for a departmental enquiry. If proven, these allegations amount to the violation of various norms of the Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964. To initiate disciplinary action or not, depending on the outcome of the enquiry report, will befall the cadre-controlling authority, which in the case of IAS, is the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT).
But that’s ranked lower on my list of worries. The larger issue is about the allegations of procuring fake disability and OBC (non-creamy layer) certificates, and how this appears to have bypassed the filter of the UPSC.
Herein lies the larger impact of the Pooja Khedkar case. On the one hand, it has the power to erode our trust in one of the country’s most revered institutions. This is disastrous because the UPSC is seen by many as a beacon of merit where nepotism does not work, an island of excellence and an unyielding filter that weeds out the rest, choosing only the best to govern the country.
On the other hand, it seems to confirm various beliefs about the working of the government machinery, which the public psyche suspects — a rampant misuse of power, corruption and the hackability of the system by the rich and powerful. For many, psychologically speaking, this is a confirmation of the worst fear: In India, you can get away with anything if you have the right contacts.
According to a 2021 study, approximately 50 per cent of the candidates who cleared the UPSC Civil Services Examination belong to the reserved categories. For many in the “non-creamy” layer of society, the UPSC exam is seen as the only way to climb up to the “creamy layer” — with hard work. If this hope shatters, the morale of the youth of our country will collapse and that must never happen.
Regardless of how things look overall, they are not as bad as we might think.
It is important to remember that these cases are exceptions to the norm. Most civil servants recruited by the UPSC are deserving people of exceptional calibre. To think that Pooja Khedkar’s case is representative of our country’s overall machinery would be an error of over-generalisation.
The entire system, not just Pooja Khedkar is on trial. The true assessment of the strength of a system is not in whether or not it can be hacked, but in how quickly it responds in such an event and repairs itself.
One can only hope.
Ravi Kapoor is an ex- IRS Officer, competitive powerlifter, author and mentor for UPSC aspirants
