Bhubaneswar, April 2: Following an order of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Odiaha Government on Friday transferred Mission Shakti Secretary Sujata Karthikeyan and appointed her as the Special Secretary in the Finance Department.
Health Secretary Shalini Pandit was given additional charge of Mission Shakti Department and OLL & C DDepartment.
On Thursday, a delegation of BJP Central leaders met the ECI alleging violation of model code of conduct by Sujata Karthikeyan by misusing her official power following which the ECI ordered the transfer of tge 2000-batch IAS officer to a non-public dealing department with immediate effect.
The BJP accused Sujata, wife of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader VK Pandian, of “misusing” her position to mobilise women attached with self-help groups “for electoral gains for the Biju Janata Dal.”
Thr Mission Shakti Department was launched on March 8, 2001 by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with the objective of strengthening the women’s empowerment process through women’s self-help groups across the State.
In its representation, the BJP had demanded that Odisha cadre IAS officer Sujata Karthikeyan should not be given any responsibility till the assembly election and the Lok Sabha polls are over as she was “indulging in open, blatant and gross, misuse of authority, government machinery and manpower for influencing voters through SVEEP for electoral gains of BJD.”
