Just Transferred: The Untold Story of Ashok Khemka

by Bhavdeep Kang

Ordering sweeping reforms to insulate the bureaucracy from frequent transfers, the court ruled that ‘the civil servants shall not act on verbal orders, cannot be transferred frequently, and are entitled to a fixed tenure.’ It directed the Centre, state governments and union territories to constitute within three months a civil services board comprising high-ranking serving officers with the cabinet secretary at the Centre, and the chief secretary at the state level to guide and advise on all service matters, especially transfers, posting and disciplinary action.

It also recommended that a transfer could take place before two years only if the civil services board (CSB) in the state recommended it or the government had strong reasons for it. The PIL had been moved in the Supreme Court by eighty-three retired bureaucrats.

As the late T.S.R Subramaniam observed, ‘moral degradation flourishes at every level’ of governance and the bureaucracy largely remains the willing tool of its political masters. As long politicians are prey to electoral financing and, vested interests, the demand for a weak-kneed and corrupt bureaucracy will continue. The ‘system’ will endure and while it does, there will be no room for honest babus and ‘Khemka-type’ officers will continue to be Outsiders.

There were some very good matches, but I felt that Jyoti’s family was more in consonance with mine. If I had married a high-flyer it would have been a mismatch; with Jyoti’s family, I felt that at least the two families would be able to communicate with each other.’

‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.’

Now fifty-four, Khemka says, ‘I want to carry out my social responsibility.’ He does not see himself fading into the sunset. As long as he is physically and mentally capable, he will be active. ‘One must be a player in one’s own life. I am not the type who will sit, watch and criticize. Choose your side and play. Don’t sit on the sidelines, pretending helplessness,’ he says. This is the reason why he does not hold a grudge against the officials who hounded him, because ‘at least they played the game’. For him the karma of action will always be superior to the karma of inaction.

However, in 1864, an Indian candidate successfully cleared the exams: Rabindranath Tagore’s elder brother Satyendranath Tagore.

Krishnan and Somanathan once commented that the IAS can be divided into three groups, ‘the wives (who are attached to one party), the nuns (officers who remain unattached to any party) and the prostitutes (who attach themselves to whichever party is in power and switch when there is a change in government).’