Letters: A man interrupted

This refers to the report "Nothing changes for Khemka" (April 3). The situation described in the report has sent sad waves among the people who care for honesty. Indian Administrative Service officer Ashok Khemka has now suffered his 46th transfer in 22 years; the latest after only 128 days of posting as transport commissioner in Haryana. And the chief minister of Haryana says, it is a routine transfer. After all, the chief minister is an honourable man.

Facebook shows that people share the sentiment expressed by the writer in discovering that a whistle-blower and an honest officer like Khemka is being hounded by even the current Bharatiya Janata Party government in Haryana. Business Standard has the distinction of exposing the weakness of the government in not supporting honest officers as it did in the customs case of a certain Union textile minister in the mid-nineties, when action was taken against him for carrying excess luggage at the Delhi airport; the next day the officer concerned was hooted out of Delhi.

Unfortunately, there are hardly any genuine supporters of honest officers whom the Opposition uses only for campaigning, just like Narendra Modi's oratory during his election campaign found the episode of Robert Vadra and Khemka as a star component. But as soon as the Opposition comes to power, it is scared of the honest officer because he can unearth the scams of the new government as well. So, while he is respected by the people, he is hated by corrupt businessmen and politicians alike. Rarely do we find that an honest officer is genuinely supported by a politician or businessman.

Modi elaborately lectured upon the senior bureaucrats to act honestly and fearlessly. But where is his action now? Why is he lagging behind in supporting Khemka? He must realise that if officers go into the safe mode again, as earlier, no work will be done. All his big words will be mere verbiage. After the CAG report, that supported Khemka's actions, Modi has all the more reason to resurrect him. He should not allow people to surmise that there is a bigger political game behind this inactivity being played behind the scenes.

Sukumar Mukhopadhyay New Delhi

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