New Delhi: Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka is retiring today (April 30) after serving for 33 years. Known for his honesty and bold decisions, Khemka was transferred 57 times during his career. He will retire from the post of additional chief secretary, Transport Department, Haryana. A farewell ceremony has been organised by the Haryana IAS Officers Association in Chandigarh this evening.
Ashok Khemka was born in Kolkata on April 30, 1965. He studied Computer Science at IIT Kharagpur and later earned a PhD in Computer Science along with an MBA in Business Administration and Finance. He cleared the UPSC exam in 1990 and became an IAS officer of the 1991 batch, allotted to the Haryana cadre.
Khemka passed UPSC exam in 1990
Khemka gained national attention in 2012 when he cancelled a land deal between Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, and real estate company DLF. At the time, the Congress party was in power in Haryana and Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the Chief Minister.
Even after the change of government, Khemka’s frequent transfers continued. He returned to the transport department in December 2023, ten years after he had earlier served there.
Transfers of Khemka
In 2014, he had refused to give fitness certificates to heavy vehicles, leading to a truck drivers’ strike.
Earlier this year, Khemka wrote to the Haryana Chief Minister requesting a posting in the Vigilance Department, stating his wish to continue fighting corruption until the last day of his service.
