Existing instructions permit the termination of a government servant for furnishing false information or producing a false certificate to secure an appointment, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

In a written reply, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said complaints are received from time to time regarding employment in government ministries and departments on the basis of fake caste certificates, which are normally forwarded to the concerned ministries/departments for appropriate action.

"The extant instructions provide that if it is found that a government servant had furnished false information or produced a false certificate in order to secure an appointment, he should not be retained in service," he said.

Thus, when an appointing authority comes to know that an employee has submitted a fake caste certificate, it has to initiate action to remove or dismiss such an employee from service according to the provisions of the relevant service rules, Singh said.

The response assumes significance as the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recently cancelled the provisional candidature of probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar and debarred her from all future examinations for fraudulently availing attempts in the civil services examination beyond eligibility.

She has also been accused of misusing disability and Other Backward Class or OBC (non-creamy layer) quotas, among others.

Singh said the responsibility for issuing and verifying the caste/community certificates lies with the concerned state governments.

The Supreme Court, vide its judgement dated September 2, 1994, in the matter of 'Kumari Madhuri Patil vs Addl Commissioner', has laid down detailed criteria/guidelines to be followed by the state governments for the issuance of social status certificates, their scrutiny and their approval, he said.

States and Union Territories have been requested on several occasions to ensure that the caste certificate referred to the district authorities is verified and reported to the appointing authority within one month of receipt of a request from such authority, the minister said.

"In case no report is received from the concerned state/UT authorities within a period of one month, the ministries or departments are required to take up the matter with the states/UTs to complete the verification process," he added.

The minister was responding to a query seeking details of steps being taken by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to identify civil servants who have used fake Persons with Benchmark Disabilities, non-creamy layer or other such certificates to secure appointment to various civil services where recruitment is conducted by the UPSC.

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