Bhubaneswar: Senior Odisha cadre IAS officer Sujata R Karthikeyan, the wife of BJD president Naveen Patnaik's former close aide V K Pandian, was granted permission to take voluntary retirement from government service, official sources said on Saturday. The approval of Karthikeyan's request for voluntary retirement was informed to Odisha Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja by Under Secretary in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance and Pensions, Bhupinder Pal Singh through a letter.
"... It is to convey that Central Government has approved the request of Voluntary Retirement of Smt. Sujata R Karthikeyan, IAS (RR-2000) from IAS with effect from 13.03.2025, in relaxation of three months' mandatory notice period under Rule 16 (2A) of AIS (DCRB) Rules, 1958. Further, Govt, of Odisha is requested to issue necessary 'notification' in this regard," the letter read.
Karthikeyan, a 2000-batch Odisha cadre officer, was serving as the special secretary in Odisha's finance department.
She had been instrumental in the introduction of Mamata Yojana, a cash transfer initiative for pregnant women and lactating mothers, and Mission Shakti, which provides interest-free loans to women self-help groups engaged in small-scale industries.
Mamata Yojana addressed the nutritional needs of pregnant women and lactating mothers and followed a self-declaration format for claiming benefits, reducing paperwork and evading red-tapism.
Karthikeyan is also credited with the introduction of eggs in the mid-day meals in all government schools of Sundergarh district in 2006. It was later scaled up and implemented across the state.
"Instead of increasing the quantity of pulses, eggs were added to the meals of the children. This move led to a spike in enrolment," an official who had worked with her said.
As the collector of Naxal-affected Sundergarh, she had earned praise for launching the cycle scheme for high school students through bank sponsorship.
"In 2005, when road access to schools was challenging, especially for young girls, and there was a sharp drop-out among tribal girls after class 8, cycles were provided to girls. This intervention helped girls to continue their studies and empowered them. This was later implemented by the Odisha government across the state," the official said.
Hailing from coastal Odisha's Kendrapara district, Karthikeyan was also fondly called the "football collector" in Sundergarh for distributing footballs among youngsters in remote villages along the inter-state boundaries with Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
She also distributed hockey equipment, encouraging young boys and girls to take up sports and stay away from Naxal activities or drugs.
Her contribution in setting up hostels for female players and astroturf grounds led to sports being seen as a way of life and a mode for empowering the youth in Sundergarh, the official said.
She brought around 70 lakh women under the purview of the Mission Shakti initiative and credit linkages to women-run SHGs increased from Rs 500 to Rs 15,000 crore in seven years.
The provision of interest-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh led to a surge in women-run enterprises across the state.
Her bureaucrat-turned-politician husband, V K Pandian, had also taken voluntary retirement in October 2023 and joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headed by Patnaik.
Pandian, however, quit active politics in the wake of the BJD's defeat in the assembly polls last year, ending the regional party's 24-year rule.
In May 2024, however, the Election Commission had ordered Karthikeyan's transfer to a department where she would not deal with the public following allegations of misuse of her office. She was then serving as the commissioner-cum-secretary, Department of Mission Shakti.
Before taking retirement, Karthikeyan went on a six-month leave after the BJD lost the elections in 2024. She was granted leave till November 26 last year, but her application for extension was rejected by the state's BJP government.
"... It is to convey that Central Government has approved the request of Voluntary Retirement of Smt. Sujata R Karthikeyan, IAS (RR-2000) from IAS with effect from 13.03.2025, in relaxation of three months' mandatory notice period under Rule 16 (2A) of AIS (DCRB) Rules, 1958. Further, Govt, of Odisha is requested to issue necessary 'notification' in this regard," the letter read.
Karthikeyan, a 2000-batch Odisha cadre officer, was serving as the special secretary in Odisha's finance department.
She had been instrumental in the introduction of Mamata Yojana, a cash transfer initiative for pregnant women and lactating mothers, and Mission Shakti, which provides interest-free loans to women self-help groups engaged in small-scale industries.
Mamata Yojana addressed the nutritional needs of pregnant women and lactating mothers and followed a self-declaration format for claiming benefits, reducing paperwork and evading red-tapism.
Karthikeyan is also credited with the introduction of eggs in the mid-day meals in all government schools of Sundergarh district in 2006. It was later scaled up and implemented across the state.
"Instead of increasing the quantity of pulses, eggs were added to the meals of the children. This move led to a spike in enrolment," an official who had worked with her said.
As the collector of Naxal-affected Sundergarh, she had earned praise for launching the cycle scheme for high school students through bank sponsorship.
"In 2005, when road access to schools was challenging, especially for young girls, and there was a sharp drop-out among tribal girls after class 8, cycles were provided to girls. This intervention helped girls to continue their studies and empowered them. This was later implemented by the Odisha government across the state," the official said.
Hailing from coastal Odisha's Kendrapara district, Karthikeyan was also fondly called the "football collector" in Sundergarh for distributing footballs among youngsters in remote villages along the inter-state boundaries with Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
She also distributed hockey equipment, encouraging young boys and girls to take up sports and stay away from Naxal activities or drugs.
Her contribution in setting up hostels for female players and astroturf grounds led to sports being seen as a way of life and a mode for empowering the youth in Sundergarh, the official said.
She brought around 70 lakh women under the purview of the Mission Shakti initiative and credit linkages to women-run SHGs increased from Rs 500 to Rs 15,000 crore in seven years.
The provision of interest-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh led to a surge in women-run enterprises across the state.
Her bureaucrat-turned-politician husband, V K Pandian, had also taken voluntary retirement in October 2023 and joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headed by Patnaik.
Pandian, however, quit active politics in the wake of the BJD's defeat in the assembly polls last year, ending the regional party's 24-year rule.
In May 2024, however, the Election Commission had ordered Karthikeyan's transfer to a department where she would not deal with the public following allegations of misuse of her office. She was then serving as the commissioner-cum-secretary, Department of Mission Shakti.
Before taking retirement, Karthikeyan went on a six-month leave after the BJD lost the elections in 2024. She was granted leave till November 26 last year, but her application for extension was rejected by the state's BJP government.
