Maharashtra cadre trainee IAS officer Pooja Khedkar is in the news for the misuse of the disability quota. An investigation has revealed that she got a government job by making a fake certificate. The case of another UPSC candidate is also in the headlines, who is none other than ISRO scientist Kartik Kansal. He passed the UPSC exam four times, but still, the candidate was unable to become an IAS officer. According to reports, Kartik Kansal is an IIT Roorkee mechanical engineering graduate, who is currently employed by ISRO as a scientist. He was selected through All India Central Recruitment for this position. Since the age of 14, Kansal has been reliant on a wheelchair due to his illness of muscular dystrophy. For the unversed, a person suffering from muscular dystrophy is unable to walk.
Kartik Kansal has made a record for passing the UPSC, one of the most difficult tests, four times. He was selected four times to join the civil service, which is a dream of many. Reports suggest he received the 813th rank after passing the 2019 UPSC exam. He secured 271st place in 2021. Kartik Kansal ranked 784th in 2022 and 829th in 2023, respectively.
When he bagged 271 rank in 2021, he was eligible for the post of IAS even without the disability quota, as that year’s rank holders, 272 and 273, were also eligible for IAS. Reports suggest that muscular dystrophy was left off of the IAS’s functional classification eligibility list in 2021.
Kansal was hence not appointed to the IAS. His second and third options, the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Excise) and Indian Revenue Service (Income Tax) Group A lists, also included muscular dystrophy.
In 2019, Kartik Kansal secured the 813th rank. Then, only 14 of the 15 slots for persons with locomotor impairments were open, so he might have been employed. But it escaped his notice. Only four of the seven locomotor disability posts for 2021 have been filled. Despite being the clear winner in the category, Kansal was not given the place.
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