According to a circular issued by the PCMC on Tuesday, 196 employees of the civic body availed benefits under the disability quota, including officers holding posts such as assistant municipal commissioners, executive, deputy and junior engineers, as well as junior staffers such as clerks, teachers, beat inspectors and others working across various departments.These employees have been asked to submit their disability certificates or UDID cards, along with their appointment or promotion letters, by Feb 10.Manoj Lonkar, joint city engineer of PCMC, told TOI, “Following doubts over fake or forged disability certificates, govt instructed all departments to carry out verification and issued a govt resolution in this regard. In line with these instructions, we identified employees who availed benefits under the disability quota and asked them to submit the necessary documents.”The documents will be verified by Yashvantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital, a PCMC-run hospital in Pimpri. Lonkar said the employees will also have to undergo physical verification at the hospital, where their disability will be assessed as per the prescribed norms. As per govt rules, only those with 40% or more disability are entitled to avail benefits under the quota.The civic body warned that disciplinary action will be initiated if employees are found to have submitted fake or forged disability certificates or UDID cards, if the disability is below the mandated 40%, or if the required documents are not submitted.In Oct last year, govt issued a govt resolution directing all departments to complete verification of disability certificates or UDID cards and submit a report within three months. Lonkar said the PCMC could not carry out the process during that period and therefore initiated it now.Similar verification drives in other districts unearthed several cases of fake or forged certificates. Last month, the Nashik Zilla Parishad CEO suspended 18 employees after they failed the disability certificate verification. Similarly, the Beed Zilla Parishad CEO suspended 14 teachers working in ZP schools in Dec last year for failing to submit their UDID cards.In Dec last year, minister Atul Save told the legislative assembly that 21 employees from Pune district were suspended for submitting fake disability certificates. Responding to a question raised by Vadgaon Sheri MLA Bapu Pathare, he added that govt received complaints against 719 employees across the state, all of which were under verification.
