Tough Haryana officer faces hard times

CHANDIGARH: After Ashok Khemka, director, secondary education, Haryana, took on the chief minister''s office , the official circuit is abuzz with speculation about the future of this intrepid officer.
In the interest of school students, Khemka stalled the execution of notes from the CMO recommending mid-session transfer of teachers in violation of a general ban on transfers in the state.
Though none among the bureaucracy has dared to come out in support of their colleague, in private most of them feel that he has taken the right step. The general refrain among bureaucrats is that somebody had to have the courage to stand up to the manner in which these transfer notes were being issued from the CMO.
The stand taken by the no-nonsense IAS officer is also in consonance with the views expressed by the state awardee teachers at a presentation ceremony held recently in the Raj Bhawan.
Khemka''s argument that the midsession transfer of teachers disturbs studies, a national loss not easily quantifiable, can hardly be refuted. Khemka has also observed that by entertaining requests for mid-session transfers on a large scale, the government was encouraging teachers to chase political leaders for favourable posting, instead of focusing on academic work.
Though specific details were not immediately available, sources in the directorate of secondary education said that there were scores of rural schools in the state where the pass percentage was either zero or less than five. Several teachers in rural government schools were drawing their salaries but hardly ever reporting for duty.
Sources said the directorate was also saddled with nearly 7,000 cases concerning service matters in the high court, most of which pertained to transfers. On an average, sources said, the directorate was spending Rs 10,000 per case as fee to the lawyers.