On his 53rd transfer, IAS officer writes to Haryana CM, says 'pliable' officials flourish

Upset over another transfer -- his 53rd in three decades -- senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka has written to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, saying while "pliable" officials flourish the honest are given insignificant roles. The 1991-batch officer has asked Khattar to permit him to seek a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Haryana government transferred Khemka from the Science and Technology Department to the Archives Department last month. "While the pliable and corrupt continue to flourish in active service and rewarded post-retirement sinecures, the honest are left with small, insignificant posts, fit for much lower ranks," he wrote. "The corrupt are never brought to book unless they hit the interest of rulers," he said, adding that "governance is no longer a service but a business".

"Only a few fools like me will think and act as trustees of the public faith, hoping against hope that you will not throw this letter into the dustbin," he wrote in the demi-official (DO) letter, dated December 6. The officer said "personal and extraneous considerations" determining transfers and posting of all-India service officers bypassing the Civil Services Board would sound a death knell to the institution. "The dreams of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to see a strong India through the creation of an all-India service under Article 312 will be shattered," said Khemka.

Anguished over his frequent transfers, he wrote, "I have always suffered the ill-considered and premature transfers silently. My self-imposed restraint should not be interpreted as a sign of acquiescence." He said a transfer should not be carried out solely on one's wish or desire. "Some of the transfers I have suffered during your tenure were not in public interest but based on extraneous and personal considerations," he said.

On his last transfer in November, Khemka wrote, "Relating to my last posting, I request you to consider the file carefully at your level which points to financial corruption in the award of the GIS-related tenders." In his letter, Khemka reminded that the BJP had made alleged irregularities in land deals during the tenure of the previous Congress regimes a big issue during the 2014 elections. "The promise made to the nation at the time of the 2014 elections is now forgotten," he said.