Chandigarh:
Senior IAS officer Ashok Khamka, known for his honesty during his nearly 34 -year career, will be supernuting on Wednesday.
1991-Batch officers will retire as Additional Chief Secretary, Transport Department. He was transferred to his current job in December 2024.
The Haryana-cadre IAS officer came into the national headlines in 2012, when he canceled the mutation of a Gurugram land deal associated with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law, Robert Wadra.
A mutation is part of the procedure to move the ownership of a piece of land.
Born on 30 April 1965 in Kolkata, he earned a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kharagpur in 1988, followed by PhD in Computer Science from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and an MBA in Business Administration and Finance.
While in service, he also completed his LLB from Punjab University.
With 57 transfer during his career, perhaps the most in the bureaucracy of the state, Mr. Khamka returned to the Transport Department last December, which is currently being handled by Minister Anil Vij. The move came after about 10 years when he was shifted to the transport commissioner, headed by Manohar Lal Khattar in the first term of the then BJP government.
At the time of his expulsion, Mr. Khamka was in the Transport Department for only four months.
In 2023, Mr. Khamka wrote to Mr. Khattar and offered to “take out” corruption “with a term in the Vigilance Department.
He said that he had sacrificed his service career in his enthusiasm to end corruption.
While there is not enough work in his current posting – the Department of Archives (the department which was handled) – some officers have been overloaded with many allegations and departments, due to which they are always fire fighting, they told them then.
In a dated letter on 23 January 2023, Mr. Khamka wrote, “The distribution of work does not serve the public interest.” “At the end of my service career, I offer my services to lead the vigilance department to exclude corruption.
“If an opportunity is given, I assure you that there will be a real war against corruption and although no one will be spared high and mighty,” was written by the IAS officer.
After a round of promotion two years ago, Mr. Khamka tweeted: “My batchmates were appointed as Goi as newly appointed secretaries! While this is an opportunity for Meera, it brings a similar measure of despair for someone.” He said, “The trees always cut first. There is no regrets. With a resolution, I will remain.” Over the last 12 years, Mr. Khamka has been posted in departments considered “low profiles”. In his entire career, on average, they have been transferred every six months.
Earlier, he was posted in the Archives Department for the fourth time-three of these have been stent during the tenure of the BJP-led government.
He first served as the Director General and later the Principal Secretary of the Archives Department. She was first shifted to the department in 2013 when the Congress was in power.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
