IAS officer VK Pandian received Odisha Cabinet minister rank a day after voluntary retirement as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s private secretary on Tuesday. Earlier, Pandian took voluntary retirement from authorities service amid buzz over his induction into the Patnaik Cabinet on Monday. He is more likely to be given a big position forward of the meeting elections, which will probably be due early subsequent 12 months.
In a letter to the state’s General Administration Department, the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training mentioned his voluntary retirement has been accepted “with the waiver of the notice period as recommended by the State Government”.
Who is IAS officer Pandian?
Pandian was a 2000-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre. Pandian started his bureaucratic profession as the sub-collector of Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district in 2002. He was appointed the collector of Mayurbhanj district in 2005, after which in 2007, he was made the collector of Ganjam. It was throughout his posting in Ganjam that he turned near the chief minister. Patnaik is initially from the Ganjam district. Pandian joined the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in 2011, and since then, he has been Patnaik’s private secretary. After Patnaik turned the chief minister for the fifth time in 2019, Pandian was given the extra duty of the ‘5T secretary’ to implement some transformational initiatives in authorities departments.
His elevation to prominence as the shut aide of Patnaik has typically landed him in controversies. The controversial official confronted opposition events’ allegations of misusing his place for political positive factors.
On a number of events, the opposition BJP and Congress demanded his resignation asking him to formally be a part of Patnaik’s social gathering BJD. Pandian drew the opposition’s criticism after he went on a whirlwind tour throughout the state throughout which he held 190 conferences to listen to public grievances.
Congress MP Saptagiri Ulaka had mentioned that he wouldn’t be shocked if Pandian took cost as the chief minister of Odisha earlier than the following elections.
“…such is the power structure in Odisha, no one has clue what’s happening but everyone knows who’s controlling. VRS approved in 3 days during holidays – Super Fast,” he mentioned in a publish on X.
