A Quick Court Martial: ‘Audacity of Superciliousness’
Trainee IAS officer Pooja Khedkar has been in the eye of a storm over alleged misuse of power and claims that she made in her UPSC candidature that has landed her in more trouble with the central government launching a probe against her.
NewsBharati 13-Jul-2024 10:47:04 AM
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‘It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles.’- Niccolo Machiavelli
Audacity of What? Super immunity? – Nah, sheer arrogance!
A probation period is a period where a – would be- employee is under trial and training.
As per definition it is ‘a person who is serving a probationary or trial period in a job or position to which they are newly appointed’. In the practical sense, if you are not up to the mark, your services can be terminated after that period. This definition should apply across the board in every serious profession and is gender neutral. Usually it is observed that probationers walk that extra mile to prove it to the system what extra they bring to the table and behave in the most professional manner – which is a no brainer.
In the news is an IAS probationer Pooja Khedkar - a 2023-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre. Just a year into service- a green horn.
In any profession as responsible as Journalism, Management, research or even medicine or the armed forces a two year, young into the service is a ‘Twit’ or nugatory and is supposed to know his or her position in the hierarchy. Recently, Pooja Khedkar sparked a controversy when she used her private Audi car with a red-blue beacon light and VIP number plate. And some more childish antics.
Let us understand that to get into any serious profession the entry is not simple or a cake walk. To get into the National Defence Academy- NDA, around four to five lakh candidates register and 2.5 to 3 lakh take the exams conducted by the UPSC. Around 7000 are called for SSB interview and just 300 to 350 join the academy.
Around 12 lakh apply for civil services and 1000 make it and around 200 get into the IAS. Both are tough to crack and so is cracking an MBA CAT exam making to top ten colleges like IIM, XLRI, Symbiosis etc.
IITs are a tough nut to crack too and so is medical entrance. Fine, you are good and better than the best but you are not GOD and stop pretending. Good for you. An IAS who just got in misconstrued the IAS as ‘Indian Avatar Service’!
‘Beta tum collector bananewale ho’ (You will become a collector soon) is the nudge by parents and relatives.
Pooja ji was given the role of assistant collector in Pune Maharashtra and she took it to the head- became heady too soon.
Unfortunate point is that many cannot handle success- many who don’t even deserve it and have squeezed their entry through ‘smarter’ means- yes you are smart who can manage or fool a fool proof system. Let me say this loud and clear that to make success in film industry in India and may be Hollywood may be far tougher than civil services.
‘There are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. 'Good pride' represents our dignity and self-respect. 'Bad pride' is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance.’ John C. Maxwell
‘If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters’ - Harvey Mackay
Lady Khedkar allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam, reported PTI. Reports claimed that she had also submitted a mental illness certificate. In April 2022, she was asked to report at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, for verification of her disability certificate, but she did not do so, citing Covid infection, PTI reported.
She had given an affidavit to court about her disability and court asked her to be present for medical examination which she refused four times. Finally managing her way via rights of disabilities act.
Can an individual take a massive system for a ride?
It seems you can. Try this in the Army and watch the fun. People get 28 days imprisonment for Over Staying Leave or being absent without leave. Officers get court martialled for such offences resulting in loss of seniority and even forfeiture of pension in some serious offences. And the procedure is quick. Forgery or submitting wrong documents, cheating are taken very seriously and punished severely.
Of Course one cannot compare the rules of armed forces with this situation but it cannot be a free run too.
There are four kinds of courts-martial in India. These are the General Court Martial (GCM), District Court Martial (DCM), Summary General Court Martial (SGCM) and Summary Court Martial (SCM). According to the Army Act, army courts can try personnel for all kinds of offenses, except for murder and rape of a civilian, which are primarily tried by a civilian court of law.
There are trouble creators in every organization but the organization needs to take corrective measures ASAP. Today India is changing and speed is at the top of the reformist stack. Integrity cannot be compromised especially in sensitive and responsible positions.
Yet one can learn from each other. Either the civil services start moving faster learning from the army in the national interest or the army starts slowing down learning from them in their own interest adopting age old formula ‘you scratch my back and I scratch yours’. Amen.
The cadre needs to be reined in
This would be the right moment or opportunity to revisit the service rules or norms for these ‘imagined avatars’ by the government. Unfortunately, these are the guys who are the government. How can the government rein in the government? Will it not be too much to ask? Oxymoronic though it may seem.
The only thing that may work to handle this powerful lobby is ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’. His plate is full and putting another fly like this one on his plate may not be fair.
‘Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power’. James Madison
Audacity of What? Super immunity? – Nah, sheer arrogance!
A probation period is a period where a – would be- employee is under trial and training.
As per definition it is ‘a person who is serving a probationary or trial period in a job or position to which they are newly appointed’. In the practical sense, if you are not up to the mark, your services can be terminated after that period. This definition should apply across the board in every serious profession and is gender neutral. Usually it is observed that probationers walk that extra mile to prove it to the system what extra they bring to the table and behave in the most professional manner – which is a no brainer.
In the news is an IAS probationer Pooja Khedkar - a 2023-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre. Just a year into service- a green horn.
In any profession as responsible as Journalism, Management, research or even medicine or the armed forces a two year, young into the service is a ‘Twit’ or nugatory and is supposed to know his or her position in the hierarchy. Recently, Pooja Khedkar sparked a controversy when she used her private Audi car with a red-blue beacon light and VIP number plate. And some more childish antics.
Let us understand that to get into any serious profession the entry is not simple or a cake walk. To get into the National Defence Academy- NDA, around four to five lakh candidates register and 2.5 to 3 lakh take the exams conducted by the UPSC. Around 7000 are called for SSB interview and just 300 to 350 join the academy.
Around 12 lakh apply for civil services and 1000 make it and around 200 get into the IAS. Both are tough to crack and so is cracking an MBA CAT exam making to top ten colleges like IIM, XLRI, Symbiosis etc.
IITs are a tough nut to crack too and so is medical entrance. Fine, you are good and better than the best but you are not GOD and stop pretending. Good for you. An IAS who just got in misconstrued the IAS as ‘Indian Avatar Service’!
‘Beta tum collector bananewale ho’ (You will become a collector soon) is the nudge by parents and relatives.
Pooja ji was given the role of assistant collector in Pune Maharashtra and she took it to the head- became heady too soon.
Unfortunate point is that many cannot handle success- many who don’t even deserve it and have squeezed their entry through ‘smarter’ means- yes you are smart who can manage or fool a fool proof system. Let me say this loud and clear that to make success in film industry in India and may be Hollywood may be far tougher than civil services.
‘There are two kinds of pride, both good and bad. 'Good pride' represents our dignity and self-respect. 'Bad pride' is the deadly sin of superiority that reeks of conceit and arrogance.’ John C. Maxwell
Smart smarter smartest
‘If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters’ - Harvey Mackay
Lady Khedkar allegedly submitted fake disability and Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates to clear the civil services exam, reported PTI. Reports claimed that she had also submitted a mental illness certificate. In April 2022, she was asked to report at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, for verification of her disability certificate, but she did not do so, citing Covid infection, PTI reported.
She had given an affidavit to court about her disability and court asked her to be present for medical examination which she refused four times. Finally managing her way via rights of disabilities act.
Can an individual take a massive system for a ride?
It seems you can. Try this in the Army and watch the fun. People get 28 days imprisonment for Over Staying Leave or being absent without leave. Officers get court martialled for such offences resulting in loss of seniority and even forfeiture of pension in some serious offences. And the procedure is quick. Forgery or submitting wrong documents, cheating are taken very seriously and punished severely.
Of Course one cannot compare the rules of armed forces with this situation but it cannot be a free run too.
There are four kinds of courts-martial in India. These are the General Court Martial (GCM), District Court Martial (DCM), Summary General Court Martial (SGCM) and Summary Court Martial (SCM). According to the Army Act, army courts can try personnel for all kinds of offenses, except for murder and rape of a civilian, which are primarily tried by a civilian court of law.
There are trouble creators in every organization but the organization needs to take corrective measures ASAP. Today India is changing and speed is at the top of the reformist stack. Integrity cannot be compromised especially in sensitive and responsible positions.
Yet one can learn from each other. Either the civil services start moving faster learning from the army in the national interest or the army starts slowing down learning from them in their own interest adopting age old formula ‘you scratch my back and I scratch yours’. Amen.
The cadre needs to be reined in
This would be the right moment or opportunity to revisit the service rules or norms for these ‘imagined avatars’ by the government. Unfortunately, these are the guys who are the government. How can the government rein in the government? Will it not be too much to ask? Oxymoronic though it may seem.
The only thing that may work to handle this powerful lobby is ‘Modi hai to mumkin hai’. His plate is full and putting another fly like this one on his plate may not be fair.
‘Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power’. James Madison
Virender Kapoor
A thinker, educationist and an inspirational guru. Kapoor is an Indian who wears many hats. An educationist of repute, he was the Director of a prestigious management Institute under the Symbiosis umbrella. He has emerged as a leading think tank in human behavior, motivation and success. As a celebrity author, his name appears with the likes of Thomas Friedman and Dale Carnegie. He has authored more than 30 books as of now which are on Amazon worldwide and several of his books are in the pipeline.