Bhubaneswar: Following the order of Election Commission of India (ECI), the State Government today transferred senior IAS Officer Sujata Rout Karthikeyan as Special Secretary, Finance Department.
In a notification, General Administration and Public Grievances department, issued on Friday said that Sujata, Secretary, Mission Shakti with additional charge of Secretary, Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department, has been appointed as Special Secretary, Finance Department.
Health and Family Welfare Secretary Shalini Pandit has been given additional charge of Secretary, Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department and Commissioner of Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department, it said.
Sujata’s additional charge of Secretary, Odia Language, Literature and Culture Department will be terminated the day Shrimati Pandit takes charge, the notification said.
With the appointment of Sujata in the Finance Department, the Team Finance has been strengthened. Her experience and innovative ideas will definitely boost the Department to move to a higher scale in strengthening the State’s economy, an official said.
Notably, the Election Commission yesterday ordered the transfer of Karthikeyan to a non-public dealing department following a complaint by BJP.
A delegation of BJP’s Central leaders had submitted a complaint against Karthikeyan, accusing the 2000-batch IAS officer of ‘actively’ operating as an agent of the ruling BJD in the State.
She was accused of motivating voters to favour the BJD through Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP), a programme of the ECI.