Indian Express: New Delhi: Monday,
26 August 2024.
An official scrutiny that lasted nine years till 2019 tracked 1,084 complaints of Government jobs being acquired on fake caste certificates, according to records accessed by The Indian Express under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. From these cases, 92 personnel were dismissed from service, records from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) show.
These numbers (see chart) assume significance given the high-profile case this year of Puja Khedkar who is in the dock for allegedly presenting dodgy caste and disability certificates to secure a seat in the civil services.
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The RTI records were made
available for 59 of the 93 ministries and departments under the Government.
They show that the Railways logged 349 such complaints in this period followed
by the Department of Post (259), Ministry of Shipping (202) and Department of
Food and Public Distribution (138). Sources in the DoPT said several of these
cases are pending in various courts as well.
The RTI response was obtained on an application filed by The Indian Express following the Puja Khedkar controversy in July. It shows the DoPT started collecting data of such complaints in 2010 after a recommendation by the then Parliament Committee on the Welfare of SC/ST headed by the then Lok Sabha BJP MP Ratilal Kalidas Varma.
The Committee “strongly recommended” that the DoPT “obtain information from all Ministries/ Departments, PSUs, banks, autonomous bodies and States/ UTs in regard to cases of false caste certificates regularly with a view to monitoring their progress and disposal, so that necessary plan of action could be taken to tackle the problem for good.”
The first communication in this regard was issued by the DoPT on January 28, 2010, to ministries and departments to “collect information from all organisations under their administrative control about the cases where the candidate got/alleged to have got appointment against vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes on the basis of false/ fake caste certificate”. The deadline given was March 31, 2010.
The last communication seeking such data, records show, was issued on May 16, 2019. “As on date, no such data is centrally maintained in (these) Departments,” the DoPT said in its RTI response dated August 8, 2024.
“DoPT has issued instructions from time to time to all the State and UT governments to ensure timely verification of caste certificate. It is the responsibility of the concerned State or UT Government to issue and verify caste certificate,” the DoPT said.
The Government’s reservation quota for employment mandates that SC candidates get 15 per cent, STs 7.5 per cent, OBCs 27 per cent, EWS 10 per cent and physically handicapped 3 per cent in each category.
According to the DoPT, an order issued in 1993 states: “If it is found that a government servant had furnished false information or produced a false certificate in order to secure appointment, he should not be retained in service.”
In July, the UPSC accused Puja Khedkar of “fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit under the Examination Rules by faking her identity by way of changing her name, her father’s and mother’s name, her photograph/signature, her email id, mobile number and address.”
Khedkar approached the Delhi High Court earlier this month, challenging the UPSC’s declaration to cancel her civil services candidature and bar her from appearing for any future exams.
An official scrutiny that lasted nine years till 2019 tracked 1,084 complaints of Government jobs being acquired on fake caste certificates, according to records accessed by The Indian Express under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. From these cases, 92 personnel were dismissed from service, records from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) show.
These numbers (see chart) assume significance given the high-profile case this year of Puja Khedkar who is in the dock for allegedly presenting dodgy caste and disability certificates to secure a seat in the civil services.
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The RTI response was obtained on an application filed by The Indian Express following the Puja Khedkar controversy in July. It shows the DoPT started collecting data of such complaints in 2010 after a recommendation by the then Parliament Committee on the Welfare of SC/ST headed by the then Lok Sabha BJP MP Ratilal Kalidas Varma.
The Committee “strongly recommended” that the DoPT “obtain information from all Ministries/ Departments, PSUs, banks, autonomous bodies and States/ UTs in regard to cases of false caste certificates regularly with a view to monitoring their progress and disposal, so that necessary plan of action could be taken to tackle the problem for good.”
The first communication in this regard was issued by the DoPT on January 28, 2010, to ministries and departments to “collect information from all organisations under their administrative control about the cases where the candidate got/alleged to have got appointment against vacancies reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes on the basis of false/ fake caste certificate”. The deadline given was March 31, 2010.
The last communication seeking such data, records show, was issued on May 16, 2019. “As on date, no such data is centrally maintained in (these) Departments,” the DoPT said in its RTI response dated August 8, 2024.
“DoPT has issued instructions from time to time to all the State and UT governments to ensure timely verification of caste certificate. It is the responsibility of the concerned State or UT Government to issue and verify caste certificate,” the DoPT said.
The Government’s reservation quota for employment mandates that SC candidates get 15 per cent, STs 7.5 per cent, OBCs 27 per cent, EWS 10 per cent and physically handicapped 3 per cent in each category.
According to the DoPT, an order issued in 1993 states: “If it is found that a government servant had furnished false information or produced a false certificate in order to secure appointment, he should not be retained in service.”
In July, the UPSC accused Puja Khedkar of “fraudulently availing attempts beyond the permissible limit under the Examination Rules by faking her identity by way of changing her name, her father’s and mother’s name, her photograph/signature, her email id, mobile number and address.”
Khedkar approached the Delhi High Court earlier this month, challenging the UPSC’s declaration to cancel her civil services candidature and bar her from appearing for any future exams.
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