Odisha IAS Officer Sujata Karthikeyan Joins Duty After Rejection Of Leave Extension Application

Bhubaneswar: Senior IAS officer Sujata Karthikeyan, wife of bureaucrat-turned-politician V K Pandian, joined duties on Wednesday a day after the Odisha government rejected her leave extension application.

The 2000-batch IAS officer was on child care leave (CCL) for six months from May 31, a day before the last phase of polling in the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Odisha. The General Administration and Public Grievance Department had granted the leave and issued an official letter on June 5.

On Tuesday, Manoj Kumar Mohanty, the Additional Secretary to the Mohan Charan Majhi-led state government, informed Sujata that “after careful consideration, your leave application for extension of child care leave for a further period of 6 months from November 27 is not acceded to”. She was asked to re-join on Wednesday.

It may be noted that her husband VK Pandian, who was also an IAS officer of Odisha cadre, had taken voluntary retirement in 2023 and subsequently joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

In May this year, the Election Commission had ordered immediate transfer of Sujata to a non-public dealing department following complaints of alleged misuse of public office. She was then holding the post of commissioner cum secretary in the Department of Mission Shakti.