Former bureaucrat VK Pandian today officially joined the Biju Janata Dal at the Naveen Nivas in the presence of party supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
“Today our party supremo and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik officially inducted VK Pandian into the BJD. Pandian then received Naveen Patnaik’s blessings. Speaking to the senior leaders, Naveen Patnaik said that just as Pandian had served the people of Odisha as a bureaucrat, he would continue to do the same while in the BJD. He will work towards taking forward Naveen Patnaik’s vision of Odisha’s development,” BJD senior leader Debi Mishra said. ANI.
In October this year, VK Pandian was appointed chairman of 5T (Transformational Initiative) and ‘Nabin Odisha’ at the rank of Cabinet Minister under the Prime Minister Naveen Patnaik-led government.
This came a day after the Center approved the voluntary retirement of the IAS officer, who has served as private secretary to the Odisha Chief Minister.
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VK Pandian is a 2000-batch IAS officer from Odisha cadre. He started his career as a civil servant as a Sub-Collector in Dharmagarh, located in Kalahandi district. Pandian then served as collector in Mayurbhanj and Ganjam districts before transitioning to his role in the Chief Minister’s office.
In the last decade since his accession, Pandian has played a key role in many crucial decisions of the Patnaik government.
Before taking voluntary retirement, VK Pandian was 5T secretary to the state government. 5T is a governance charter that emphasizes transparency, technology, teamwork and time leading to transformation. According to the state government, this will ensure speedy completion of many projects.
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Pandian also played a key role in mega projects such as Sri Jagannath Heritage Corridor. The Srimandir Parikrama project, likely to be completed this year, will create a 75-metre unobstructed corridor around the outer wall of the Shree Jagannath temple. Once completed, devotees are given an obstructed view of the temple from a distance. The corridor will also provide facilities for devotees and strengthen security around the complex.
Along with Srimandir, Pandian also oversaw the Odisha government’s initiative for renovation and restoration of ancient and revered temples across the state.
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In September, Pandian had completed his tour of all the 147 constituencies of the state, ending his six-month tour of all the districts in the state.
During the tours, he discussed with local people their pressing problems and visited heritage tourism sites to assess the development of their infrastructure under the 5T program.
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Pandian is also said to be the man behind the Odisha government’s flagship Mo Sarkar programme. Mo Sarkar aims to inject professionalism and sustainable behavioral change into public offices and officials through any feedback mechanism that directly connects the government with the citizens. The Odisha government says it has enabled closer scrutiny of the services provided by the government to the citizens.
With his formal induction into the BJD, Pandian is expected to play a key role as the BJD will seek an unprecedented sixth term in office when elections are held in the state in 2024. Naveen Patnaik has been the Prime Minister since the year 2000.
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Updated: Nov 27, 2023 11:48 IST