Sat Mar 29 14:39:33 UTC 2025: ## Top Odisha IAS Officer Resigns After Husband’s Political Fall

**Bhubaneswar, Odisha – March 29, 2025** – Sujata Rout Karthikeyan, a 2000-batch IAS officer and wife of V.K. Pandian, a former aide to Odisha’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, has resigned from her position, the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions announced today. Her voluntary retirement, applied for on March 13th, has been approved, waiving the standard three-month notice period. The Odisha government will issue a further notification.

Ms. Karthikeyan’s resignation follows her husband’s voluntary retirement in October 2023, after which he entered active politics. Mr. Pandian, blamed for the Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) poor performance in the 2024 general and assembly elections, has since maintained a low profile.

During her tenure, Ms. Karthikeyan headed the crucial Mission Shakti department, overseeing a significant increase in credit linkage to women’s self-help groups (SHGs) from ₹500 crore to ₹15,000 crore in seven years. The BJP, during the elections, accused her of influencing SHG members to support the BJD, a claim which led to her transfer to a non-public dealing department. This was despite the remarkable growth of SHGs under her leadership, with a total turnover of ₹11,000 crore in five years from government works.

Ms. Karthikeyan, a high-achiever with degrees from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, had previously been granted a six-month leave to care for her daughter. Last year, her request to extend this leave was rejected by the then BJP government. The couple met at the IAS academy and Mr. Pandian later changed his cadre from Punjab to Odisha. Political analysts have long attributed the BJD’s success to its strong support base among women, a key constituency overseen by Ms. Karthikeyan.

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