Puja Khedkar case: Bureaucrats question disability quota in civil services

Hyderabad: Wading into the controversy of Puja Khedkar that had also thrown light on disability quota are the serving senior bureaucrat of Telangana cadre, Smita Sabharwal, and a retired civil servant, ex-IPS M Nageswar Rao. They found fault with the disability quota in All India Service (AIS) recruitment. And they both received flak.

“As this debate is blowing up, with all due respect to the Differently Abled, Does an airline hire a pilot with a disability? Or would you trust a surgeon with a disability? The nature of the #AIS (IAS/IPS/IFoS) is fieldwork, long taxing hours, and listening firsthand to people’s grievances, which requires physical fitness. Why does this premier service need this Quota in the first place?” said Smita Sabharwal in a post on X.

Being in the CMO and close to the power corridors Smita Sabharwal was considered one of the most powerful bureaucrats in the state during the 10 years of the previous BRS regime.

“Surprised that this has even been discussed!!! Very regressive and discriminatory in nature,” said an online user to Smita's comments.

Shiva Sena-UBT, Rajya Sabha member, Priyanka Chaturvedi, found fault with Smita's opinion and said, “This is such a pathetic and exclusionary view to have. It is interesting to see how bureaucrats are showing their limited thoughts and their privilege too.”

Responding to Priyanka's view, Smita said, “Madam, with due respect, if bureaucrats do not speak on pertinent issues of governance, then who will? My thoughts and concerns stem from a career spanning 24 odd years with no limited experience. Kindly read the view in its entirety. I have stated that the #AIS has different demands compared to other central services. The talented and differently-abled can surely find great opportunities.”

“With all due respect to the IAS Officer, this is the most illogical comparison. I never expected such an insensitive comment from a senior IAS officer. The issue you’re highlighting involves the logical fallacy of making inappropriate comparisons. The examples you provided illustrate the fallacy of false equivalence, where two disparate entities are compared in a way that overlooks their inherent differences. This can lead to flawed conclusions and unfair judgments. You are comparing a fish with a bird and saying that the bird is more capable because it can fly. Your comparison is just like comparing a monkey and a lion and declaring the monkey more powerful because it can climb trees. There are many notable examples of individuals who are not less than anyone else,” said another netizen.

Ex-IPS questions UPSC integrity and calls UPSC Jihad

M Nageswar Rao, an ex-IPS who also served as CBI director, took to X and questioned the disability quota in civil services.

“When you don’t recruit the best for the government, you can’t expect the best from the government. People don’t accept a person with disabilities as their private office peon, private driver, or even a maid at home, but they want the government to recruit them into the civil service to become district collectors, etc. Irony just died a thousand deaths!” he said.

He also added that affirmative action is necessary, but multi-generational reservation, OBC Creamy Layer, EWS, PwD, etc. in the name of that is not only a big sham but downright anti-national.

“Not only the integrity of the UPSC recruitment process came under cloud, but on top of that, there is what is called #UPSC_Jihad, allegedly at the behest of the RSS-BJP government, whereby more marks are apparently awarded to Muslim candidates in the interviews. If there was no truth in it, why was the @SudarshanNewsTV expose by @SureshChavhanke shut down? Lastly, I have a vested interest in the integrity and fairness of public service recruitment. I am its beneficiary, and therefore the least I should do is protect it. Likewise, the least that is expected of all those beneficiaries of the honest recruitment process is outrage against the alleged #upscacam and the institutional compromise,” he added.