HarperCollins announces the publication of a memoir of unflinching honesty and candor
NEW DELHI, April 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — HarperCollins is proud to announce the publication of a memoir of unfailing honesty and frankness, An intention to serve: An official remembers by Tejendra Khanna. The book will be released on May 12, 2022.
During a long and distinguished career as a public servant, Tejendra Khanna served, among others, as Chief Secretary of Punjab, Secretary of Union Food and Trade Ministries and Lieutenant Governor of delhi (twice). In An intention to serveas well as the ups and downs of other important positions, Khanna writes extensively about his tumultuous years as LG, delhi, with two chief ministers – Sahib Singh Verma and Sheila Dikshit – and the sometimes strained relationship between the two offices. Unflinchingly honest and candid, he also talks about law and order issues in the capital, including serial bombings and House Batla meet in September 2008and the horrific Nirbhaya case in 2012, as well as the challenges faced in organizing the Commonwealth Games in delhi in 2010.
As a member of the Yoginder K. Alagh Commission formed to propose changes in the recruitment of senior civil servants, including the Indian Administrative Service, he offers candid observations on the significant shortcomings of the services and how steel Indian democracy frame’ can be strengthened.
An intention to serve is an insider’s look at how India’s bureaucracy works, with fascinating details about how government business is handled on the ground – the politics, the pressures, the lack of resources – and the constant balancing act that an official must maintain while trying to get things done.
“In An intention to serve, I have shared several examples from my own experience of the positive and public welfare-oriented use of powers vested in public services. They demonstrate how a public servant can use their position to advance the public good and bring rightful relief to their fellow citizens, while remaining true to core values of honesty, courtesy and fairness, and refraining from discrimination. based on caste, creed or religion. Reading this book can reassure our compatriots about the potential to improve the results of our public governance and public service delivery systems.” – Tejendra Khannathe author.
“For most Indians, ‘government‘ is either a largely inaccessible but dominating power that impacts crucial aspects of their lives, or a handy punching bag for whatever is wrong with the land. Few of us understand how government really works. Tejendra Khanna had an exemplary career in the Indian administrative service, a career inspired by the words of the title of the book. Speaking candidly about his own life in government, he offers us a rare insider’s view of how it is possible for a public servant of integrity to function without fear or favor and work for the greater good.“ – Swati Chopraeditor-in-chief, HarperCollins Editors India.
About the Author:
Tejendra Khanna is a 1961 batch IAS officer. He served as Chief Secretary of Punjab in 1991-92 and led the 1992 Assembly elections as Chief Electoral Officer which brought an elected government back to the state after a long period of Presidential rule. . He also held senior positions in the Indian government – as Trade Adviser, Indian High Commission, UK (1975-1977); chief controller of imports and exports (1989-1991); government secretary of India, Ministry of Food (1992–93); and Secretary of Commerce (1993-1996). Upon his retirement in 1996, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor (LG) of delhi and served in that capacity until April 1998. He served as from delhi LG once again from April 9, 2007 at July 8, 2013.
About HarperCollins Publishers India
HarperCollins India publishes some of the best writers from the Indian subcontinent and around the world, releasing around 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalog of over 2,000 titles spread across 10 editions. Its authors have won almost all major literary awards including Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Prize, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Prize, Publishing Next Prize , the Tata Literature Live Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Award, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Prabha Khaitan Woman’s Voice Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India has received the Publisher of the Year award four times: at Publishing Next in 2015 and at Tata Literature Live! in 2016, 2018 and 2021. HarperCollins India also represents some of the best publishers in the world including Egmont, Oneworld, Harvard University Press, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet.
For more information, write to Aman Arora at [email protected]
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SOURCE HarperCollins Publishers India
