In the Firing Line!

It is no more a secret that in every step we have to pay the bribe to get our work done. Every time we shell out our hard earns money to the worthless public servant we blame the hand but not the head behind it. However, among the scores of arrogant and dishonest bureaucrats who are responsible for the state in which we are in there are a few who are ready to fight against the odds to stay clean. Whenever a brave bureaucrat tried to fight against the injustice and wrongdoing, they found themselves in the firing lines. Bulk of them decided to fall in the line but some may not and finally they shown the door.

I already written about three brave hearts before, Shanmugam Manjunath, Satyendra Dubey and Yeshwant Sonawane laid their life for different purpose. Their fault was that they acted against the mafia those are mostly backed by the politicians. Some of the honest lots are transferred many times and others are suspended. My blog is about two who ends with same fate but never gave up.

Ashok Khemka

Ashok Khemka was born in West Bengal, India. He graduated from the I. I. T, Kharagpur in 1988 and followed it up with a Ph.D in Computer Science from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.  He also holds a MBA in finance and MA in economics.

He is an IAS officer of the 1991 batch. He has been repeatedly transferred by various state governments in his home cadre of Haryana after he exposed corruption in the departments he was posted in. Dr. Khemka transferred nine times in five years during government led by Mr. Om Parkash Chautala. Ashok Khemka was transferred in October last for cancelling an allegedly irregular land deal between Robert Vadra, son-in-law of UPA chairperson  Sonia Gandhi,and DLF, was again shifted on Thursday amid a raging controversy over irregularities in the Haryana Seeds Development Corporation (HSDC) that he unearthed during his short tenure of five months as its head.

Durga Shakti Nagpal

Durga Shakti Nagpal is an IAS officer of the 2010 batch from Uttar Pradesh cadre. She came into public view after taking action against corruption and launching a massive drive against illegal sand mining within her jurisdiction of Gautam Budh Nagar. She was later suspended by the government of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly demolishing an illegal mosque wall. Her suspension resulted in a large backlash against the government's order, which was perceived to be based on flimsy grounds and there is a growing demand by internet social media, opposition political parties and IAS Officers' associations for her suspension to be revoked

Durga Shakti Nagpal belongs to Chattisgarh and has a BTech in computer engineering from Indira Gandhi Delhi Technological University for Women. She secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 20 in the Union Public Service Commission examinations in 2009. She served for over two years in Punjab as an Assistant Commissioner with the Mohali district administration

Ms. Nagpal was initially an officer in the Punjab cadre and later changed to Uttar Pradesh cadre after her marriage to Abhishek Singh, who is an IAS officer of the UP cadre. She was posted in Ghaziabad as a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) in September 2012, and then got appointed as SDM of Gautam Budh Nagar. She came into public notice after acting against the sand mafia in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh by forming special flying squads to stop the illegal sand-mining in the Yamuna and Hindon river banks. She had ordered the arrest of 15 people and imposed a fine of Rs. 2 crore  on them. UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav suspended IAS officer and SDM Durga Shakti Nagpal on the grounds that her action to demolish a mosque wall would have led to communal tension.

A video posted online apparently showing senior Samajwadi Party leader, Narendra Bhati, boasting to a crowd that he was responsible for Ms. Nagpal’s suspension, added to outrage at what many characterize as arbitrary political action against an honest civil servant.

Mr. Bhati was shown in the video saying that after he found out about the plans to tear down the mosque wall, his phone calls to his party chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Akhilesh Yadav, meant Ms. Nagpal was suspended within 41 minutes. Mr. Bhati could not immediately be reached for comment.

!!!Courage is grace under pressure. - Ernest Hemingway!!!