New Delhi : In a long and distinguished career as a civil servant, Tejendra Khanna served, most notably, as Chief Secretary of Punjab, Secretary of the Union Ministries of Food and Commerce, and Lieutenant Governor of Delhi (twice).
In ‘An Intent to Serve – A Civil Servant Remembers’ (HarperCollins), along with the highs and lows of other prominent postings, Khanna writes extensively about his tumultuous years as LG, Delhi, with two Chief Ministers – Sahib Singh Verma and Sheila Dikshit – and the at-times-fraught relationship between the two offices.
Unsparingly honest and forthright, he also talks about the law-and-order problems in the capital, including the serial bomb blasts and subsequent Batla House encounter in September 2008, and the horrific Nirbhaya case in 2012, as well as the challenges faced while organising the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010.
As a member of the Yoginder K. Alagh Commission constituted to propose changes in the recruitment to the higher civil services, including the Indian Administrative Service, he offers candid observations on the significant shortcomings in the services, and the ways in which Indian democracy’s ‘steel frame’ can be strengthened.
‘An Intent to Serve’ is an insider’s look into the workings of the Indian bureaucracy, with fascinating details about the way government business is transacted on the ground – the politics, the pressures, the lack of resources – and the constant balance a civil servant must maintain while trying to get things done.
“I have shared several examples culled from my own experience, of the positive and public welfare-oriented use of powers vested in the civil services. They demonstrate how a civil servant can use his or her position to advance the public good and provide legitimate relief to fellow citizens, while staying true to the core values of honesty, courtesy and equity, and refraining from any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed or religion,” Khanna said.
“Reading this book can provide a measure of reassurance to our countrymen regarding the potential for better outcomes from our systems of public governance and public service delivery,” he added.
For most Indians, said Swati Chopra, Executive Editor, HarperCollins India, government is either a largely inaccessible yet dominating power that impacts crucial aspects of their lives or it is a convenient punching bag for whatever is wrong in the country.
“Few of us understand how the government actually functions. Tejendra Khanna has had an exemplary career in the Indian Administrative Service, one that was inspired by the words in the book’s title. By talking candidly about his own life in government, he provides us with a rare insider’s view into how it is possible for an upright civil servant to function without fear or favour, and work for the greater good,” Chopra added.
Tejendra Khanna is a 1961-batch IAS officer. He was Chief Secretary, Punjab, during 1991–92 and conducted the 1992 assembly elections as Chief Election Officer, which brought back an elected government in the state after a long period of President’s Rule. He also held important positions in the Government of India – as Commercial Counsellor, Indian High Commission, UK (1975–77); Chief Controller Imports and Exports (1989–91); Secretary, Ministry of Food (1992–93); and Commerce Secretary (1993–96).
On his retirement in 1996, he was appointed the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi and served in this capacity up to April 1998. He served as Delhi’s LG once again from April 9, 2007 to July 8, 2013.
–IANS
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