‘Being paid Rs 40 lakh annually for eight mins of daily work’: IAS officer Ashok Khemka seeks post of vigilance chief in Haryana

Posted as additional chief secretary (archives department) since January 9, 2023, Khemka through his letter has conveyed that he has barely eight minutes of work in a day in the archives department while his annual salary is Rs 40 lakh.

Citing the Supreme Court’s 1987 judgment in the case of ‘PK Chinnasamy vs Government of Tamil Nadu and Others’, Khemka said that the apex court had held that “a Public Officer should be given posting and work commensurate to his status”.

Khemka, who is due to retire from service in the year 2025, has apprised Khattar that he had “always been at the forefront in the fight against corruption” and he has also “sacrificed his service career to root out the cancer of corruption”.

“I have been assigned the Archives Department vide order dated January 9, 2023. The annual budget of this Department is a meagre Rs. 4 crores, less than 0.0025% of the total State Budget. My annual salary as an Additional Chief Secretary is Rs. 40 lakhs, which in itself is 10% of the Department’s total budget. The time required in Archives is not more than 1 hour-a-week. On the other hand, some officers are much overloaded with multiple charges and departments due to which they are always engaged in firefighting. 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,” Khemka wrote.

“As you know, corruption is all-pervasive. When I see corruption, it hurts my soul. In my zeal to root out the cancer, I have sacrificed my service career. Without rooting out corruption as per stated Government policy, the dream of a citizen to achieve his true potential can never be realized. He will be reduced to fighting for survival on a daily basis,” Khemka added.

Khemka further wrote in the letter: “I have always been at the forefront in the fight against corruption. 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.”

Last year, Haryana’s cabinet minister Anil Vij had described Khemka as a “rare breed officer” and a “gem” that he has “rarely seen” in his 40-year-long political career and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar agreed with the observation. Both of them rated Khemka 9.9 out of 10 in the latest performance appraisal report.

On January 9, Khemka was transferred to the archives department for the fourth time. He was the only IAS officer to be transferred, besides four Haryana Civil Services (HCS) officers.

The state government did not reveal any reason for the ‘abrupt’ transfer of Khemka, a 1991-batch IAS officer (his 55th in a 30-year service career).