KARIMNAGAR : Even as controversy rages over Puja Khedkar, a probationary IAS officer in Maharashtra, Praful Desai, an IAS officer serving as the additional collector (local bodies) in Karimnagar district, has come under scrutiny on social media.
Desai had posted pictures of himself engaged in activities like horse riding and cycling on social media while undergoing training. Some netizens took screenshots of these pictures and shared them, and soon enough, he was flooded with comments from netizens who accused him of forging a disability certificate to benefit from the reservation in the UPSC civil service examination.
Desai, a 2019 batch IAS officer with an All India Rank (AIR) of 532 in the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and orthopedically handicapped category, was questioned by one Malleshwari, using the handle ‘Sakshi’ on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter). Her post read: “People are sharing photos of you cycling, playing tennis, rafting and horse riding, claiming you have fully recovered after rigorous training ... Now that these photos are public, you have suddenly made your account private. What are you afraid of?”
Responding to the viral posts, Desai took to ‘X’ stating: “I applied for the UPSC exam with a benchmark disability certificate issued by the competent authority. During the UPSC examination in 2018, after a lot of hard work and dedication, I appeared for the personality test/interview at UPSC Bhavan. As per procedure, I underwent a medical examination by a medical board at AIIMS Delhi, which certified that I have a benchmark disability. However, I couldn’t clear the exam in 2018. During my UPSC examination in 2019, I again appeared for the personality test/interview and underwent another medical examination at AIIMS Delhi. The medical board at AIIMS Delhi again certified that I have a benchmark disability, and the same report was shared with the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) and UPSC.”
Desai said that those who falsely claim benefits should be punished but sensitivity should be shown toward genuine cases.
Be sensitive to genuine people, requests IAS officer
Regarding his photos showing him engaging in physical activities, he explained that these were part of the training programme and for building camaraderie with batchmates.
He questioned, “Is being a physically challenged person and pushing my physical limits to try to live a normal life like others wrong?” Desai requested netizens sharing information to be empathetic and sensitive before jumping to conclusions without thorough information.