5T Chairman VK Pandian to join BJD soon
5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman VK Pandian (V Krishnan Pandian) will join the Odisha ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party soon, said sources.
Bhubaneswar: 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman VK Pandian (V Krishnan Pandian) will join the Odisha ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party soon, said sources.
The party will make an official announcement about Pandian’s joining and his date of joining the conch party, said the sources.
It is to be noted here that Pandian, a native of Tamil Nadu and a 2000-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre. took voluntary retirement (VRS) earlier on October 23, 2023 after serving 23 years in Odisha Government. As the face of 5T transformation, he evoked good response from people across the State.
A day after his retirement, the Odisha government appointed Pandian as Chairman 5T (Transformational Initiatives) and Nabin Odisha in the rank of a Cabinet Minister to work directly under the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
He began his bureaucratic career in 2002 as the sub-collector of Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district and then was posted as the collector of Mayurbhanj district in 2005.
The Odisha government appointed him as collector of Ganjam in 2007. After which, as per reports, he became close to CM Naveen Patnaik and has served as his private secretary since 2011.
Patnaik gave him the additional responsibility of the ‘5T secretary’ in 2019 to implement some transformational initiatives in government departments.
Ms Kalinga