Just Transferred- The Untold Story of Ashok Khemka

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Twenty-seven years in service and fifty-three transfers: that's an average of six months in each posting. Meet the forever-in-transit man of the Indian bureaucracy, Ashok Khemka. The IAS officer shot into the limelight in 2012, when he cancelled the mutation of a land deal between realty major DLF and a company which belonged to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra. With the Congress party in power, most people called it a suicidal move. But, true to his reputation for being scrupulously honest, Khemka didn't budge.

Throughout his career, Khemka has suffered at the hands of his political masters for his refusal to compromise. Be it being stripped of his official car for defying a chief minister, or being charge-sheeted for frivolous reasons, the actions of those with vested interests have not been able to shake his indomitable spirit.

Why has the man never given up against a 'system' that always tends to go with the flow? Why do political parties use Khemka's example to score brownie points during elections and conveniently forget the man afterwards? Why are there just admirers and no takers for the officer when it comes to his deputation with the central government? And, most importantly, will honest officers like Ashok Khemka continue to suffer under successive regimes?

Offering an insider's view of India's administrative machinery, Just Transferred is the riveting story of a man whose example may well become an inspiration to civil servants across the country.

BHAVDEEP KANG is a journalist of thirty-three years' standing. She has worked with the Times of India, the Sunday Observer, the Indian Express, the Pioneer, the Telegraph, Outlook and India Today. She is a freelance columnist and lives in Delhi.

NAMITA KALA is a freelance editor and former reporter. She has worked with the Indian Express and the Pioneer and has written extensively on politics and the environment. She divides her time between Delhi and Dehradun.

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