Bhubaneswar: Putting an end to all speculation over her future senior IAS officer Sujata R Karthikeyan, wife of former chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s trusted aide and bureaucrat-turned-politician VK Pandian, has taken voluntary retirement from service (VRS).
The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions on Friday approved her application for premature retirement under existing rules.
A powerful and efficient officer who played a major role in carrying out the Naveen Patnaik government’s agenda of women empowerment Sujata was the brain behind not just the creation of Mission Shakti which had over 70 lakh women members earning through various activities organised as self help groups (SHGs) supported by Mission Shakti but also the chief architect of its enhanced stature which led the Naveen government to turn it into a full-fledged department.
She wielded considerable influence in the Naveen Patnaik government which was resented by the BJP which lodged a complaint against her with the Election Commission during the last elections. The commission ordered her transfer from the Mission Shakti department and she was posted as the special secretary of the Finance Department where she remained following the defeat of the BJD in the 2024 elections.
However, as soon as the BJP government assumed office in June last year, she went on leave for six months citing childcare responsibilities. The government refused to extend her leave, and she was compelled to rejoin duty in November 2024.
Sujata’s tenure in administration was marked by a rapid rise and she was responsible for implementing some of Naveen’s flagship programmes, most notably the Mission Shakti movement. She had earlier served as collector in key districts such as Cuttack and Sundargarh with an excellent record. When Mission Shakti was officially designated as a government department, she was appointed as its secretary, overseeing the activities of lakhs of women self-help group members. These women constituted a loyal and crucial vote bank for the Biju Janata Dal led by Naveen Patnaik. She was the one who recommended Ganjam’s SHG leader Pramila Bisoi as a potential Lok Sabha candidate from Aska to then chief minister Naveen Patnaik in 2019. Pramila won the election from Aska hands down.
Her husband, VK Pandian, had taken voluntary retirement from service in October 2023 while serving as the all-powerful private secretary to CM Naveen Patnaik. Following his retirement, he entered full-time politics, joining the BJD and leading the party’s campaign and election strategy. The party’s defeat was a significant setback for him, and days after the results, he announced he was taking ‘sanyas’ from politics.
Sujata’s voluntary retirement has now sparked speculation about her next move, with rumours suggesting she may join an international organisation. There is also talk of Pandian taking up an assignment with a global agency.
However, Sujata’s legacy as a bureaucrat will endure. She was responsible for making lakhs of women coming from poor backgrounds empowered by making them financially independent. As the powerful secretary of Mission Shakti department she diversified the role of women self help groups by coordinating with various government departments which offered them new responsibilities which also helped them earn and stand on their feet. There was a time when women SHG members were only cooking mid-day meals in government schools but under Sujata-run Mission Shakti they also started collecting water bills and performing many new roles.
The 49-year-old bureaucrat hails from Baluria village in Odisha’s Kendrapara district and spent some time in Jamshedpur, where her father worked as a doctor. She met VK Pandian at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration during their IAS training. Though Pandian was initially allotted the Punjab cadre, after marriage, he changed to the Odisha cadre.
In November 2023, she was given the additional responsibility of handling the Odia Language, Literature and Culture department. The posting was made keeping in mind the government’s decision to host the world Odia language conference in February 2024. She did justice to her job.
