Just Transferred : The Untold Story of Ashok Khemka

By Bhavdeep Kang| Namita Kala

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About the book

Twenty-seven years in service and fifty-three transfers: that’s an average of six months in each posting. Meet the forever-in-transit man of the Indian bureaucracy, Ashok Khemka. The IAS officer shot into the limelight in 2012, when he cancelled the mutation of a land deal between realty major DLF and a company which belonged to Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. With the Congress party in power, most people called it a suicidal move. But, true to his reputation for being scrupulously honest, Khemka didn’t budge. Throughout his career, Khemka has suffered at the hands of his political masters for his refusal to compromise. Be it being stripped of his official car for defying a chief minister, or being charge-sheeted for frivolous reasons, the actions of those with vested interests have not been able to shake his indomitable spirit. Why has the man never given up against a ‘system’ that always tends to go with the flow? Why do political parties use Khemka’s example to score brownie points during elections and conveniently forget the man afterwards? Why are there just admirers and no takers for the officer when it comes to his deputation with the central government? And, most importantly, will honest officers like Ashok Khemka continue to suffer under successive regimes?Offering an insider’s view of India’s administrative machinery, Just Transferred is the riveting story of a man whose example may well become an inspiration to civil servants across the country.

Pages: 276

Available in: Hardback

Language: English

Bhavdeep Kang

BHAVDEEP KANG is a journalist of thirty-three years’ standing. She has worked with the Times of India, the Sunday Observer, the Indian Express, the Pioneer, the Telegraph, Outlook and India Today. She is a freelance columnist and lives in Delhi. NAMITA KALA is a freelance editor and former reporter. She has worked with the Indian Express and the Pioneer and has written extensively on politics and the environment. She divides her time between Delhi and Dehradun.

Namita Kala

Ashok Khemka’s career is an example of what happens to an officer when he stands up for what he considers to be right. I am glad Khemka has followed this precept in his life, paying a heavy price for it and getting transferred innumerable times, without giving up on his beliefs. - YASHWANT SINHA, Former Union Minister, Finance And External Affairs, Government Of India

There are very few like Ashok Khemka who never compromise on morality, ethics and honesty in the performance of their duties, standing by the values cherished by the Indian nation before Independence. I have no doubt that the future generations will always remember Ashok Khemka as a servant of the people who stood by his principles and never wilted under the pressure from unscrupulous politicians. - JUSTICE G.S. SINGHVI, Former Judge, The Supreme Court Of India

Ashoks’s story is worth reading, not only by serving and aspiring bureaucrats, but by every Indian who feels a responsibility to create a country of which we can be proud. - K.J. ALPHONS, Member Of Parliament, Former Minister Of State, Culture And Tourism,Government Of India

Bhavdeep Kang and Namita Kala have written a gripping tale that is both sad and inspirational, and a telling commentary on contemporary India. - NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN, Resident Editor, The Indian Express

An amazing book about an amazing man. There are few in the elite Indian Administrative Service like Ashok Khemka. The rusted ‘steel frame’ of governance in the country has not collapsed altogether because of officers like him – and such people are becoming increasingly difficult to find in a society where the honest are considered fools, if not severely handicapped. - PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA, Journalist, Author, Publisher, Educator And Documentary Film-Maker