Transferred for the 51st Time, Ashok Khemka Wins Us Over

By Rayomand Engineer

November 14, 2017

Transferred for the 51st Time, Ashok Khemka Wins Us Over With His Amazing Attitude

With a career spanning over 3 decades, this IAS Officer believes in standing up for what is right, even if it means multiple transfers.

Ashok Khemka is a senior bureaucrat with a vision. Transferred on Sunday by the Haryana Government, he is now the Principal Secretary of Sports and Youth Affairs.

One among 13 IAS officers transferred by the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana, Khemka is no stranger to transfers, having been moved over 50 times during his illustrious and nearly three-decade-long career, after exposing corruption in the departments he was posted in.

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In an emotional tweet, he wrote “So much work planned. News of another transfer. Crash landing again. Vested interests win. Déjà vu. But this is temporary. Will continue with renewed vigour and energy.”

Ashok Khemka IAS Officer. Source: Facebook.

This dynamic 1991-batch-IAS officer shot into the limelight in 2012, when he cancelled the mutation of a land deal associated with Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. That saw him transferred to HSDC, from the Land Records and Consolidation Department.

Khemka is known for his upright nature and unwavering honesty. A stalwart in public service, he is determined to be straightforward, even if it means getting transferred a multiple number of times. After exposing corruption at state government levels, Khemka alleged that he was facing threats from anonymous people.

Ashok Khemka received the SR Jindal Prize in 2011 for “Crusade against Corruption” along with a cash prize, for exposing corruption in high places. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology—Kharagpur, he has been in posts sometimes for a mere 4-5 days before being transferred.

You may also like: After 50 Years, How This IAS Officer Re-United a Woman and Her Family in Nagaland

His living room has framed copies of international publications like the Washington Post and the Gulf News carrying stories of his run-ins with the power-wielding elite India. Little wonder, that after his 43rd transfer in 2013, when interviewed by NDTV he said “I am not a quitter. I am part of this system and will stay in it. I am proud of it. I have only been doing my duty as an officer”.

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