Another Puja Khedkar? Telangana IAS officer allegedly misused OH quota to enter UPSC. Details here

Praful Desai, an IAS officer from Telangana, has been accused of misusing a disability quota to pass the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination. Praful Desai, who serves as an Additional Collector of Karimnagar in Telangana, has been accused of misusing the Orthopedically Handicapped (OH) quota after pictures of him cycling, playing tennis, rafting, and horse riding started doing the rounds on social media.

He secured AIR 532 in the UPSC exam held in 2019. The allegations come amid the controversy surrounding Puja Khedkar, the probationary IAS officer in Maharashtra, who is facing allegations of misusing disability and OBC quotas to become an IAS officer.

A user shared Desai's pictures along with his rank on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, "You are Praful Desai, an IAS officer from the 2019 batch with AIR 532 in the EWS and Orthopedically handicapped category. People on Twitter are sharing photos of you cycling, playing tennis, rafting, and horse riding, claiming you've fully recovered after rigorous training at LBSNAA."

The user further requested Desai to address the doubts of UPSC aspirants and said that many students keep their dreams alive through sheer dedication and hard work.

A user said, "Imagine the plight of deserving candidate who have appeared for the interview and didn't make it. How he will be feeling seeing these incidents?" Another user said, "Looks like someone is cycling away from transparency!"

Meanwhile, Desai's medical reports from Belagavi district hospital accessed by India Today stated that he had a locomotor disability and 45 per cent disability in his left leg due to polio. On this, the IAS officer said he has polio in one leg due to which he cannot run but he can walk and cycle. 

He rejected allegations of misusing the disability quota and said that his one leg was disabled but it didn't imply that he could not engage in physical activities at all. He said that many of these activities were a part of his training program at LBSNAA. 

The Karimnagar Additional Collector told India Today on the viral picture showing him playing badminton that he is not a regular but plays the game a few times and that he has been there with his batchmates. "My disability doesn't mean I cannot walk at all and I try to play a little with my friends," he added.