Hyderabad: Amid the ongoing furore over IAS probationer Puja Khedkar’s recruitment, Telangana cadre IAS officer Smita Sabharwal has drawn strong reaction from across all walks of life, especially those from disability groups, for questioning the need of PwD reservations in the All-India Services (AIS).
Former civil servant Bala Latha Mallavarapu, who runs a Hyderabad academy training AIS aspirants, has strongly censured Sabharwal’s comments, calling her physically fit but “ethically disabled, mentally upset.”
Asking if the Revanth Reddy government endorses Sabharwal’s opinions, wheelchair-bound Mallavarapu threatened Monday to sit on an indefinite fast if the IAS officer fails to retract her comments and apologises within 24 hours.
Sabharwal, a 2001 batch IAS officer, had shared her thoughts on the PwD quota on ‘X’ on Sunday.
“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 field work, long taxing hours, listening first hand to people’s grievances – which requires physical fitness,” she said. “Why does this premier service need this quota in the first place!”
The controversial statement comes at a time when in addition to Khelkar, some cases of IAS officers allegedly faking disability documents to enter the service have come to the fore.
In Telangana, 2019 batch IAS officer Praful Desai is facing allegations of misusing disability quota to enter the AIS. He is presently posted as an additional collector at Karimnagar.
Sabharwal’s present controversial tweet is a step up from her last week’s reaction to “fake certificates being used by unscrupulous candidates to gain entry into the civil services.”
Disturbing news on the fake certificates being used by unscrupulous candidates to gain entry into the civil services.
#UPSC and the #IAS/IPS is still regarded by bright students as the last bastion, where merit will see them through.
Implore the authorities to conduct…
— Smita Sabharwal (@SmitaSabharwal) July 15, 2024
Shiv Sena UBT’s Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi reacted to Sabharwal’s post, on ‘X’ saying, “This is such a pathetic and exclusionary view to have. Interesting to see how bureaucrats are showing their limited thoughts and their privilege too.”
Supreme Court advocate Karuna Nundy called Sabharwal “fundamentally ignorant” on the matter. “Amazed that an IAS officer would be so fundamentally ignorant about disability. Most disabilities have no impact on stamina. Or intelligence. But this tweet shows enlightenment and diversity are badly needed,” Nandu wrote on ‘X’.
Refusing to back down, Sabharwal, presently posted as member secretary, Telangana State Finance Commission (TSFC), engaged in a volley of responses with Chaturvedi, Nundy and a few others.
Madam, with due respect, if bureaucrats do not speak on pertinent issues of governance, then who will ? My thoughts and concern, stem from a career of 24 odd years… no limited experience.
Kindly read the view in entirety. I have stated that the #AIS has different demands… https://t.co/C6bzSyi6DX
— Smita Sabharwal (@SmitaSabharwal) July 21, 2024
Madam I am fundamentally aware of the needs of the job.
The issue here is about the suitability for a ground job.
Also I firmly believe other Services within the Govt such as desk/think-tank nature is well suited.
Please don’t jump to conclusions. Legal framework is for overall… https://t.co/q8u7wNIcPJ— Smita Sabharwal (@SmitaSabharwal) July 21, 2024
Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad Monday, Mallavarapu lambasted Sabharwal and said “one does not have to be a Miss India or Universe to become an IAS.”
“As an IAS officer, you are expected to work for the uplift of the disadvantaged, not pass uncharitable remarks on them. And it’s a crime to give such statements when in service,” Mallavarapu said, calling Sabharwal “ethically disabled, mentally upset.”
Mallavarapu, a 2004 batch ‘Indian Defence Service’ officer, quit the service after 12 years.
“The first appointment letter handed by CM Revanth Reddy was to a differently abled woman. We want to know if Sabharwal’s remarks now are her personal or that of the government. The chief secretary should examine the matter,” Mallavarapu told ThePrint later.
Mallavarapu, who says she secured 167 rank in 2016 UPSC exam in open category but chose not to join the AIS services, also challenged Sabharwal to resign and sit for the UPSC civil services exam again, competing with her or her PwD students.
The competitive exams trainer said she would lead a protest at former minister S. Jaipal Reddy’s statue in Hyderabad if there is no response from Sabharwal or the government.
“Despite both legs being incapacitated since childhood, Jaipal Reddy rose to the highest echelons in public life, steering several important ministries at the Centre, and commanding many IAS officers like Sabharwal,” she said.
ThePrint reached Sabharwal for her response. This report will be updated if and when a reply is received.
Meanwhile, there have been several genuine, hardworking PwD aspirants, while braving all odds, have been shining in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam for AIS services.
In 2015, Ira Singhal became the first physically challenged candidate to top the prestigious civil services examination. This came four years after the central government cancelled her candidature for the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) because of her disability.
“Irony is that on medical and physical grounds, I am not eligible to be an IRS, a clerk or even a sweeper, but the rules do allow me to become an IAS (officer),” Singhal told this correspondent soon after the results were declared that year.
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Past controversy
In an interview to a Telugu news-channel earlier, Smita Sabharwal, from an Army background and parents settled in Hyderabad, said she topped the UPSC 2000 exam with AIR rank four. She is married to Telangana cadre IPS officer Akun Sabharwal. She held several prominent posts during the two-term BRS rule.
As a secretary in the CMO, she was associated with K Chandrasekhar Rao’s office since June 2014 when Telangana was formed. She was in charge of the important irrigation department, BRS’s ambitious drinking water scheme Mission Bhagiratha, and had also been monitoring the works of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project on the Godavari River.
After Revanth took the reins, Sabharwal was posted as member secretary, TSFC, in what was seen as a shunting post.
Last week, Sabharwal, along with others like former chief secretary Somesh Kumar, former special chief secretary (irrigation) Rajat Kumar appeared before the Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose Commission probing the alleged irregularities in the planning and execution of the Rs one lakh crore Kaleshwaram project under KCR.
Active on social media, the IAS officer stoked a controversy in August 2022 too, speaking out against the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case.
“As a woman and a civil servant, I sit in disbelief, reading the news on the #BilkisBanoCase. We cannot snuff out her Right to breathe free without fear, again and call ourselves a free nation. #JusticeForBilkisBano,” she had tweeted.
As a woman and a civil servant I sit in disbelief, on reading the news on the #BilkisBanoCase.
We cannot snuff out her Right to breathe free without fear, again and call ourselves a free nation. #JusticeForBilkisBano pic.twitter.com/NYL6YS59Gh
— Smita Sabharwal (@SmitaSabharwal) August 18, 2022
Back then, BJP leaders took objection to the civil servant’s statements, questioning her silence on the bail given to the culprits in the Jubilee Hills minor gangrape and other such cases in Telangana.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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