VK Pandian, a former odisha IAS officer from tamil Nadu joined Biju Janata Dal yesterday in the presence of chief minister naveen Patnaik. He was serving as Principal Secretary to chief minister naveen patnaik and had recently applied for voluntary retirement. The central government also approved it. A day after his voluntary retirement, VK Pandian, with cabinet minister status, was appointed as the head of the 5T and Nabin odisha project to coordinate various activities of the ruling Biju Janata Dal government. At this stage, he has officially joined Biju Janata Dal. His connection is seen as significant as the odisha state assembly elections are due next year. It is also expected that he will be given a ministerial position before that.
VK Pandian from tamil Nadu is odisha Cadre 2000 Batch IAS Officer. He started his career in 2002 as Dharmakar Assistant collector in Kalahandi district and regulated paddy procurement to protect the rights of farmers. Later, he received the National Award from the President for the rehabilitation of Public Works Departments. It was then that the Single Window System for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities was adopted as a national model and implemented across the country.
Subsequently, in 2005, VK Pandian was appointed as the district collector of Mayurbunj. His work there was taken as an example of how government can work to curb the spread of Naxalism. In 2007, Pandian was appointed as the district collector of Ganjam. He has also received the helen Keller Award for his many years of service to the disabled.
During his tenure as district collector, Ganjam, he received the National Award from the Ministry of health and Family Welfare for his work on AIDS. He has also won the National Award for the best district in the country in terms of rural employment for Ganjam district twice. It was during his tenure that the wages for the project were credited to the workers in the bank. Later, it was expanded across the country.
VK Pandian, who was in chief minister naveen Patnaik's good book when he was the district collector of Ganjam, became his close friend. With this, in 2011, he took over as the Chief Minister's Private Secretary. VK Pandian served as naveen Patnaik's private secretary for half of naveen Patnaik's regime from that date till his voluntary retirement. After naveen patnaik became chief minister for the fifth term in 2019, VK Pandian was given the additional charge of '5T Secretary' to implement some changes in government departments. VK Pandian, who has often been in controversy with accusations from opposition parties of misusing his position for political gains, has become a permanent politician.
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