Ashok Khemka is an IAS officer from 1991 batch Haryana cadre. He is known for his honest image and integrity and was the whistleblower in several corruption scams during the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. He is famous for his coup that quashed Robert Vadra’s illegal land deal in Gurgaon. He is known for his frequent transfers.
Wiki/Biography
Ashok Khemka was born on Friday, April 30, 1965, in Kolkata, West Bengal (age 56; as of 2021). His zodiac sign is Taurus. He received his primary education at St. Xavier’s College School, Calcutta. He received his B.Tech (Computer Science Engineering) degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1988. Thereafter, he received his PhD in Computer Science from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. Khemka also holds an MBA in Business Administration and Finance, and an MSc in Economics from IGNOU. In 1991, he passed the IAS examination.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′8″
Weight (approximately): 75kg
Eye color: black
Hair color: black
Ashok Kankar
family, caste and wife
Ashok Khemka belongs to the Marwari family. Not much is known about his parents. He is married to Jyoti Khemka and has two sons: Ganesh and Srinath.
Ashok Khemka and wife Jyoti Khemka
Ashok Khemka’s eldest son Srinath Khemka
Ashok Khemka’s younger son Ganesh Khemka
Profession
Ashok Khemka is a member of 1991 batch IAS of Haryana cadre. He underwent training for 2 years after which he was offered the first post of Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM). Whenever he received an unusual or informal request from a senior executive or politician, he would put it in writing. This led him to report to his superiors and the Chief Minister many times; this was the main reason for his many transfers.
Despite government directives stipulating that the tenure of an IAS officer should be at least 2 years, he kept getting transferred. He spoke out against bad contracts, questionable deals and unusual demands, but they were mostly ignored. His cadre friends once advised him to give up these problems, but he always said that he just wanted to work hard. In 2012, he was in the news for his sudden move to cancel a land deal between Robert Vadra’s company and DLF. He opposed the deal and said it contained numerous financial irregularities. 
On March 3, 2019, Ashok Khemka was transferred for the 52nd time. All these transfers caused him a lot of discomfort over the years. He never served in one place for more than 18 months, and the shortest tenure was only 11 days. After his 52nd transfer, he tweeted –
Yeah? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? , कई बर सहीै
— Ashok Khemka (@AshokKhemka_IAS) March 5, 2019
On October 22, 2021, the Haryana government transferred him to the post of principal secretary of the Haryana Department of Science and Technology. This was his 54th transfer order in his 29-year career. Previously, he served as Principal Secretary (Archives, Archeology and Museums).
dispute
- On October 15, 2012, Ashok Khemka called off changes in the land deal between Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra and real estate giant DLF. This put him in the news. Many people objected to him, believing that he was politically motivated. Ashok Kankar stuck to his statement that he was doing his job and had no personal agenda.
- In 2012, the Haryana government formed a committee after Ashok Khemka leveled allegations over land deals between Robert Vadra and DLF. The commission cleared Robert Vadra and brought charges against Khemka, accusing him of damaging Robert Vadra’s reputation and illegally canceling land deals.
- In 2017, he had tweeted that a retired IAS officer who had served on the committee that gave Robert Vadra a clean record in 2012 would be appointed to the real estate regulator. He claimed the appointment was a reward for his clean record. Robert Vadra. He also made some sarcasm on Twitter——
An official who sat on the committee for the 2012 VADRA-DLF land licensing deal has been offered a lucrative position at the real estate regulator. Some were not hauled up and continued to make hay. What’s the secret to their “success”?
— Ashok Khemka (@AshokKhemka_IAS) November 26, 2017
- In 2017, he was transferred for the 51st time and was assigned to work under Haryana Sports Minister Anil Vijay. Appointed as Principal Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. After receiving the order, he tweeted:
So much work was planned. News of another transfer. Crash landing again. Vested interests win. Deja vu. But this is temporary. will continue with renewed vigor and energy.
— Ashok Khemka (@AshokKhemka_IAS) November 12, 2017
fact
- When Khemka was in Level 4, he taught himself English by memorizing every chapter of the book Radiant Reader.
- In 2009, he received the Manjunath Shanmugam Trust Public Works Integrity Award.
- Khemka doesn’t like being labeled a whistleblower IAS. At one point, he tweeted that he was doing his job and that not reporting all of these violations would be considered misconduct.
There is harm when labeled as a whistleblower official. I did what was expected of a public servant. Failure to do so will constitute misconduct.
— Ashok Khemka (@AshokKhemka_IAS) April 8, 2015
- He received multiple death threats after reporting irregularities in the Vadra-DLF land deal. He filed an FIR with the Panchkula police on November 1, 2012, stating that he received death threats over the phone and faced constant harassment as people would call his house in the middle of the night and ring his doorbell. Kamka ran away before he could answer.
- During his 27-year career, he has moved across 47 departments. All but two of his transfers and assignments were in different departments.
- When he ignored the unofficial demands and requests of senior officials in the past, he would be transferred to other departments at lower levels or he would have to give up his official car or official room. He said he had been humiliated for serving as a junior IAS officer.
- In 2011, he was awarded the SR Jindal Award for “Anti-Corruption Champion” and received a cash award of INR 10 lakh; in recognition of his efforts in exposing corruption.
- In 2103, Arvind Kejriwal approached him and suggested him to join the Aam Admi Party (AAP); because of his clean image and anti-corruption stance. Kemka refused, stating that he could enter politics only after reaching the age of 60; after his service had been completed.
I invite Ashok khemka to join Aam Admi Party and fight against Mr. Hooda in the elections and defeat him.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 10, 2013
- In 2016, Ashok Khemka won the title in the Punjab University Law Examination by scoring 166.37 points, beating over 4,000 law aspirants. Khemka said he has always been interested in law and will pursue law as a career after retirement.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education