The Centre has formed a committee to verify “candidature claims and other details” submitted by trainee IAS officer Puja Khedkar, who has been accused of allegedly misusing disability and OBC quota to secure a position in the service.

The 2023-batch trainee IAS officer is also at the centre of a massive allegations of impropriety and misuse of her position as a bureaucrat.

The single-member committee will submit its report in two weeks.

“The central government has constituted a single-member committee, chaired by a senior officer of the rank of Additional Secretary to government of India to verify the candidature claims and other details of Ms. Puja Manorma Dilip Khedkar, a candidate of Civil Services Examination-2022 and earlier CSEs. The committee will submit its report in 2 weeks,” the Department of Personnel and Training in a statement.

It is alleged that Ms Khedkar had been using a red-blue beacon, VIP number plates and a “Government of Maharashtra” sticker on her privately-owned Audi sedan.

Amid an escalating row, Ms Khedkar has been transferred to Washim.

“Government rules do not allow me to speak anything on this matter. So sorry, I cannot speak,” said Ms Khedkar responding to the media’s queries this morning.

It has emerged that she claimed to be a visually and mentally impaired candidate to seek concession, but did not undergo a mandatory medical test for confirmation.

Pune RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar also raised questions about Ms 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,” said Mr Kumbhar.

“This raises the question of how Puja Khedkar could come under the OBC non-creamy layer category. A detailed investigation must be done on how she was appointed as an IAS officer in that category,” he said.

She had ranked 841 in the all-India exam — an unimpressive rank. In fact, the Union Public Service Commission that recruits top civil servants had challenged her selection, and a tribunal ruled against her in February 2023.

New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted last opportunity to the Centre and Opposition parties to file their responses on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for directions to prohibit the use of the acronym INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) by opposition political alliances.

The Delhi High Court refused to prepone hearing in the PIL against the opposition political parties using the acronym INDIA while hearing the petitioner’s application seeking an early hearing of the matter in view of the general election schedule notified by ECI.

The first phase of voting for the 2024 general elections is on April 19.

The bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora gave the one last opportunity to file the replies, saying “it would try to hear and dispose of the matter on April 10”.

Recently, the Election Commission of India (ECI), in its reply to the Delhi High Court, said that it can’t regulate political alliances while responding to a plea against the use of the INDIA acronym for the alliance of opposition parties.

“The answering respondent (ECI) is constituted under Article 324 of the Constitution of India for superintendence, direction and control of the conduct of all elections to Parliament, state legislatures and the offices of President and Vice President,” the ECI stated.

The authority of the answering respondent is to be exercised in accordance with the law passed by Parliament, albeit the answering respondent has the authority to regulate matters concerning elections in the absence of any contrary law in force, the poll panel said.

“The answering respondent has been vested with the authority to register associations of bodies or individuals of a political party in terms of Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951 (the “RP Act”),” it added.

Political alliances are not recognised as regulated entities under the Representation of People’s Act or the Constitution.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had sought a response from the Centre, the ECI and several opposition political parties on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for direction to opposition political parties against the use of the acronym INDIA for their political alliance.

The court also sought responses from opposition parties named in the petition.

Petitioner Girish Upadhya, through Advocate Vaibhav Singh, stated that several political parties are using the national flag as the logo of their alliance, which is a further strategic move to attract and gain sympathy and votes from innocent citizens and as a tool to give a nudge or a spark that may lead to political hatred, which eventually will lead to political violence.

The plea alleged that political parties are using the acronym INDIA with malicious intent which will only act as a factor for “diminishing the goodwill of our great nation i.e., India (Bharat), not only in our country but also on various international platforms”.

The plea stated that if the term INDIA is used by the Indian and International Media as an acronym but not in its full form (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) it will create a sense of confusion among innocent citizens if the alliance i.e. INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) is defeated or loses the general election of 2024 then it would be projected as India as a whole is defeated, which will hurt the sentiment of innocent citizens of the country again which may lead to political violence in the country.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Centre on Tuesday defended before the Delhi High Court its decision to dissolve Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF), saying its continued operation was “obsolete” when there is a dedicated ministry holistically executing schemes for the benefit of the minorities.

The central government, while responding to a petition challenging an order instructing MAEF, which provides assistance to students belonging to educationally backward minorities and institutions engaged in promoting education among them, to close down, said the foundation was established at a time when there was no Ministry of Minority Affairs.

It said there cannot be a perpetual monopoly over promotion of the minorities when the authorities concerned have taken a decision to dissolve the foundation as per law.

“Currently, a specialised ministry exists, equipped with adequate staff which has been effectively executing a range of initiatives tailored to meet the needs of the minority communities in a thorough and holistic manner. Given this context, the continued operation is rendered obsolete,” Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma told a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna.

The ASG said the projects and initiatives formally conducted by the foundation have been integrated into or replaced by comparable initiatives of the ministry and the petitioners cannot dictate policy issues to the executive.

“There are now specialised schemes. So forking of benefits to minority communities is now point-focused. Whatever foundation did, could not do, should have done, ought to have done, is now subsumed in the ministry. And, anyway, it was 100 per cent government funding (for MAEF),” he stated.

The senior law officer of the central government said schemes worth thousands of crore of rupees have been introduced in the domain for education, skill development and infrastructure for the minorities as he claimed many projects initiated by the foundation were still incomplete.

“1,600 projects were initiated by them. 523 were incomplete till date. The ministry has undertaken 75,000 projects. The ministry conducted a gap analysis and various irregularities were found,” he said.

ASG Sharma also said the decision for its dissolution was taken in strict adherence to legal protocols.

“The fact of the matter is today the decision is given based on information given to the governing body. Unanimous decision to dissolve the society was reached by 12 of 15 members who took part in the deliberations,” he stated.

Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for the petitioners, contended that the decision to dissolve MAEF was not as per law.

In an interim order passed on March 7, the high court had directed the authorities to not act on their decision till the next date of hearing.

Petitioners Dr Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, Dr John Dayal and Daya Singh had approached the high court earlier this month against the February 7 order of the ministry which instructed the MAEF, set up in 1989, to carry out the closure process at the earliest and submit copy of the closure certificate issued by the Registrar of Societies of the Delhi government on completion of all procedures, as per extant laws.

The ministry’s order was issued in reference to a proposal received from the Central Waqf Council (CWC) on January 21 to close the MAEF.

The petitioners said in their PIL that the ministry’s order not only deprives the deserving students, especially girls, from availing the benefits of the schemes of the MAEF but is also without jurisdiction, completely malafide, arbitrary and a colourable exercise by authorities.

The petition, filed through advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, claimed that such an abrupt, opaque and completely arbitrary decision to dismantle an almost four-decade-old institution and scavenge its assets and funds is bound to have an adverse impact on the lives of a number of students, schools and NGOs.

The matter will be heard next on Wednesday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

The Centre has approved a 4% increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR), bringing the total DA to 50% of the basic salary for central government employees and pensioners. This decision also includes a 25% increase in transport, deputation, and canteen allowances.

The move, announced by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in a press conference, is expected to benefit 49.18 lakh central government employees and 67.95 lakh pensioners. Considering both DA and DR and the increase in other allowances, it’s going to cost the exchequer an estimated Rs 15,000 crore for January and February in the fiscal year 2024, reported The Hindu.

As part of the revision, various allowances such as Housing Rent Allowances (HRA), Children’s Education and Transport Allowances, and gratuities will see an increase based on the formula recommended by the 7th Pay Commission. Employees and pensioners will receive arrears for January and February, along with the revised rates for March.

The revision in DA and DR, based on the Consumer Price Index – Industrial Workers (CPI-IW), occurs twice a year. The first revision, effective from January 1, is usually announced just before Holi, with the second revision, effective from July 1, decided before Durga Puja.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal did not confirm whether the DA and DR reaching 50% would trigger a merger into the basic salary, but he acknowledged that other allowances would increase with this revision. Similar increases for state government employees are anticipated following this announcement.

For HRA, the country is divided into three categories – X, Y, and Z. The revised rates for X, Y, and Z categories are now 30%, 20%, and 10%, respectively. For instance, with a minimum basic salary of Rs 18,000, the new HRA will be Rs 5,400, Rs 3,600, and Rs 1,800, respectively.

The increase in DA will also impact transport allowances, daily allowances, hostel subsidies for children’s education, and retirement gratuity. The DA reaching 50% will also benefit Chairpersons and Members of select regulatory bodies, increasing their monthly remuneration by 25%. 

How is DA calculated?

DA is calculated using the All-India Consumer Price Index (AICPI), which tells us how the prices of everyday items change over time.

Here’s how it works:

Check the AICPI: Look at how much the prices have gone up or down, based on what people pay for groceries and services. The Labour Ministry provides this number.

Pick a Time Period: Depending on whether you work for the Central government or the Central public sector, choose a specific time, like the average prices over the last 12 months for government employees or the last three months for public sector employees.

Do the Math: Plug the AICPI into a formula to calculate how much extra money you should get. 

DA calculation for central government employees

DA% = ((Average of AICPI (Base Year – 2001=100) for the past 12 months -115.76)/115.76) *100

For central public sector employees

DA% = ((Average of AICPI (Base Year – 2001=100) for the past 3 months -126.33)/126.33) *100

The percentage you get is the extra amount added to your salary to help you keep up with the higher costs of things around you.

New Delhi:

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Tuesday accused the government of using the Army “politically” for elections and claimed the ruling party has hurt its dignity by “capitalising on the popularity of soldiers”.

He claimed the Narendra Modi government has asked the Army to set up selfie points across the country where its schemes will be promoted instead of the bravery of soldiers.

“By capitalising on the popularity of the brave soldiers of our Indian Army who protect the nation, Modi ji is promoting himself. By politically using the army for elections, the Modi government has done something which has never happened in the last 75 years,” Mr Kharge alleged in a post in Hindi on X.

The Modi government has asked the Army to set up 822 selfie points across the country to promote government schemes. There, instead of the story of the bravery of the soldiers, “there is an idol-like image of Prime Minister Modi and praises of his schemes”, the Congress president alleged in the post.

“The Indian National Congress is extremely proud of the bravery and sacrifice of the Indian Army. The BJP, which gives lessons of nationalism, has hurt the dignity of the Indian Army,” Mr Kharge claimed. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

No other body other than the Union Government can conduct a caste census, the Supreme Court was told today. The Centre, in an affidavit, asserted that the Census Act, 1948, empowers only the Government to conduct the census. The move is a challenge to the Bihar government which in an earlier hearing informed the Supreme Court that an exercise of conducting surveys of the caste census in Bihar was conducted by August 6 and the data gathered uploaded by August 12.

The Supreme Court, on August 21, had allowed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, to file its response on the issue within seven days after he said the survey could have some consequences. Today was the seventh day.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav has hit out at the Centre for filing the affidavit. They have no knowledge. They only know how to lie and suppress the truth. They have opposed it even in the affidavit. It has been made clear that the BJP does not want it (caste census) and is opposing it. If they support it, then they should conduct it (caste census) across the country,” he said

Senior BJP leader and former deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Sushil Modi, however, said that his party supports caste census but “according to the Census Act, only the Centre can conduct a caste survey.”

The Government said that it is committed to taking all affirmative actions for the “upliftment of SCS/STS/SEBCs and OBCs in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of India and the applicable law.”

Various petitions have been moved in the Supreme Court challenging the Patna High Court judgment upholding the caste survey ordered by the Bihar Government.

In the August 21 hearing, the top court told the petitioners that it will not stay the exercise unless they made out a prima facie case against it.

The Patna High Court had earlier dismissed the pleas challenging the Nitish Kumar government’s decision to conduct the survey based on castes. The high court had said in its 101-page verdict, “We find the action of the state to be perfectly valid, initiated with due competence with the legitimate aim of providing development with justice….”

The Bihar caste survey would cover an estimated population of 12.70 crores in an estimated 2.58 crore households in 38 districts, which have 534 blocks and 261 urban local bodies. Chief Minister NItish Kumar insists that the caste survey would be beneficial for all sections of the society.