Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka (IAS:1992L:HY) has written to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and offered “to root out corruption” with a stint in the Vigilance department. In his letter to Khattar, Khemka said he sacrificed his service career in his zeal to end corruption.
While there is not enough work in his present posting — the Archives department — some officers are overloaded with multiple charges and departments due to which they are always fire-fighting. In the letter Khemka wrote “A lopsided distribution of work does not serve public interest. The Civil Services Board must be allowed to function as per the Statutory Rules and make prior recommendations to you, taking into account the integrity, competence, and intellect of each officer,”.
He 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,” wrote Khemka.
The Haryana government transferred Khemka on January 9, his 56th posting in about 31 years. Khemka, who was at the time Additional Chief Secretary in the Science and Technology department, has been posted as Additional Chief Secretary in the Archives department. This is the fourth time that Khemka has been posted to the Archives department.
He mentioned in his letter that the Archives department’s annual budget is a meagre Rs 4 crore i.e. less than 0.0025 percent of the total state budget and the time required in the Archives is not more than one hour a week.
