Chandigarh, Dec 3 (PTI) Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka, known for his uprightness during his over 33-year career and 57 postings, has after a gap of many years been given a posting in a 'significant' department but that comes only five months before his retirement.
The 1991-batch officer, who was Additional Chief Secretary, Printing and Stationery Department, was on Sunday transferred and posted as ACS, Transport Department relieving 1994 batch IPS officer Navdeep Vrik of the charge.
Khemka retires on April 30, 2025.
He returned to the transport department, which is currently being handled by Minister Anil Vij, nearly 10 years after he was transferred out as transport commissioner, in the first term of the then BJP government which was headed by Manohar Lal Khattar.
At that time, Khemka had barely served for four months in the transport department.
As transport commissioner then, Khemka had refused to issue fitness certificates to over-sized trucks and trailers for transporting automobiles and white goods leading to a truckers' strike in January.
Later, the truckers in the state withdrew their strike after the state government gave them one year's time to get their vehicles modified according to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), 1989.
"Tried hard to address corruption and bring reforms in Transport despite severe limitations and entrenched interests. Moment is truly painful," Khemka had then said in a tweet 10 years ago, after he was moved to Archaeology and Museums Department by the then state government.
The Haryana-cadre IAS officer came to national limelight in 2012 when he cancelled the mutation of a Gurugram land deal linked to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra.
Mutation is part of the process to transfer ownership of a piece of land.
Last year, Khemka had written to the then Chief Minister Khattar and offered to "root out corruption" with a stint in the vigilance department.
In his letter, Khemka -- whose professional life has been marked by frequent transfers, often to insignificant departments -- had said he had sacrificed his service career in his zeal to end corruption.
While there is not enough work in his present posting -- the Archives department (the department he then handled) -- some officers are overloaded with multiple charges and departments due to which they are always fire-fighting, he had pointed out.
In the letter dated January 23, 2023, Khemka wrote "lopsided distribution of work does not serve public interest".
He had offered his services to head the Vigilance Bureau "to root out corruption" and mentioned that he has always been at the forefront in the fight against graft and vigilance is the main arm of the government to root out corruption.
"Towards the end of my service career, I offer my services to head the vigilance department to root out corruption.
"If given an opportunity, I assure you there would be real war against corruption and no one however high and mighty will be spared," the IAS officer had written.
During the past 12 years, Khemka has been posted in departments, considered 'low profile'. Over his entire career, on an average, he has been transferred about every six months.
Earlier, he had been posted to the Archives department for the fourth time -- three of these stints have been during the tenure of the BJP-led government.
He earlier served as director general and later principal secretary of the Archives department. He was first transferred to the department in 2013 when the Congress was in power.
Khemka has, in the past, indicated some disappointment over having been "left behind" in his career.
After a round of promotions two years back, he had then tweeted, "Congratulations to my batchmates newly appointed as Secretaries to GOI! While this is an occasion for merry, it brings equal measure of despondency for one's own self having been left behind.
"Straight trees are always cut first. No regrets. With renewed resolve, I shall persist."