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Praful Desai, an IAS officer from Telangana, has been accused of forging a disability certificate to avail a reservation in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) civil service examination. This came against the backdrop of a controversy surrounding Puja Khedkar, the probationary IAS officer in Maharashtra, who is also facing similar allegations.
The claims against Desai, who serves as Additional Collector of Karimnagar, surfaced after his pictures of him doing adventure sports, including horse-riding, were shared on social media.
Desai is accused of misusing the OH (Orthopedically Handicapped) quota for his UPSC exam.
The IAS officer secured a ranking of 532 in the UPSC exam held in 2019.
However, Desai vehemently rejected such allegations and said his one leg was disabled but that it did not mean he could not engage in physical activities at all. He clarified that many of these activities were part of his training programme.
India Today accessed Desai's medical report from Belagavi district hospital where the doctor certified that he has a locomotor disability and 45 per cent disability in the left leg due to polio. Desai said he has polio in one of his legs because of which he cannot run but can walk and cycle.
In one of the viral photos from his Instagram handle, Desai was seen taking a selfie with his friends at a tennis court in Hyderabad.
Another photo showed Desai riding a bicycle at the Forest Research Institute in Dehradun.
The most viral Instagram photo of the IAS officer was his 30 km cycling from Kempty Falls. Other photos shared by social media users showed Desai doing rafting on a river in Rishikesh and riding on a horse.
On the viral picture of him cycling and trekking for 25 km in the mountains in December 2020, Desai said, "With this disability, I can pedal with my one leg and use the other to support. We did travel from Mussoorie to Kempty Falls on bicycle that day, but I did not cycle throughout."
"I walked with my friends. Trekking in the mountains was part of our training programme and on that subsequent trekking route, cycling was not required due to the slope while we were coming down. Even the picture that is being shared of me rafting is part of our training programme," he added.
About the horse-riding photo in October 2020, the IAS officer said the exercise was part of his training programme and clarified that his instructor was also present with him and holding the house.
Desai said he was forced to make his social media accounts private as people had used his pictures and posted on their accounts with a different narrative. He also said he received derogatory messages from some people.
"My family was apprehensive, and I am a genuine person and I come from a very normal family. These people tried to bully me and sent personal messages to me with harsh comments. There are pictures with my wife on my social media platforms and people use them for a different perspective. I had no other option but to make my social media accounts private," he said.
Desai said he belongs to a farmers' family in Karnataka's Belagavi district. Speaking about his disability, he said his left leg was infected with polio when he was five years old.
He said his left leg was not totally paralysed, but there was nearly some visible disability.
Before attempting UPSC, Desai worked as an assistant engineer in the Karnataka irrigation department, where he served for nearly three months.
Desai attempted his first UPSC in 2017 but could not clear the preliminary examination. In 2018, he made his second attempt and cleared the interview by the UPSC panel. Since Desai had applied under the physical disability quota, the UPSC made it mandatory for him to undergo a medical test under the supervision of the medical board of AIIMS.
The medical test board provided him a certificate of benchmark disability with 40 per cent. However, as Desai secured less marks in the main exam, he could not become an officer on the second attempt.
His efforts bore fruit when he succeeded in becoming an IAS officer in the third attempt in 2019. Desai cleared all UPSC exams and secured an all-India rank of 532. He went through the mandatory medical board examination at AIIMS. He was a certified benchmark person with a disability of 45 per cent.
According to the AIIMS medical board report accessed by India Today, "Praful Desai is a person with a permanent benchmark disability of locomotor disability of 45 per cent in one leg with muscular weakness."
