Odisha govt declines to extend child care leave of VK Pandian’s wife Sujata

VK Pandian served as private secretary in the chief minister’s office since 2011 and was widely considered as one of the most powerful officers in Odisha

The Odisha government rejected a request by senior bureaucrat Sujata R Karthikeyan, who is the wife of BJD leader VK Pandian, to extend her child care leave, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The ECI on May 2 ordered Odisha government to transfer Sujata R Karthikeyan to a non-public dealing department after complaints of misuse of public office (Facebook/isupportMsSujataRKarthikeyan)

The 2000 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer proceeded on child care leave on May 31 to take care of her teen daughter. Her leave ended on Tuesday and she has been told to report back to work on Wednesday, a person aware of the matter said. There was no formal statement by the general administration department on the decision. Karthikeyan was not available for comments

Weeks before she went on leave, the Election Commission of India ordered her transfer from the commissioner-cum-secretary, department of Mission Shakti, Odisha to a non-public dealing department following a complaint by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing her of forcing women self-help groups to influence voters in favour of the Biju Janata Dal.

Her husband, VK Pandian had served as the private secretary to Naveen Patnaik in the chief minister’s office since 2011 and was widely considered as one of the most powerful officers in the state. He took voluntary retirement from service in October last year. He joined the BJD on November 27 and soon rose unofficially to the second rank in the party behind only party president Patnaik.

Pandian, who spearheaded the BJD’s poll campaign and was often targeted by the BJP over his Tamil origin, has not been spotted at any BJD event after the June 4 election results.