The former aide to Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, V K Pandian, has been appointed Chairman 5T (Transformational Initiatives) with the rank of cabinet minister, according to an official notification released on Tuesday.
The development comes less than 24 hours after Pandian took voluntary retirement from government service.
“Shri V K Pandian is hereby appointed as Chairman 5T (Transformational Initiatives) and Nabin Odisha in the rank of Cabinet Minister. Pandian shall work directly under the Chief Minister,” the General Administration and Public Grievance Department said.
Pandian's rise to prominence as the close aide of the chief minister has often landed him in controversies, with opposition parties alleging that he was misusing his position for political gains.
He was a 2000-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre.
In a letter to the state's General Administration Department, the Centre's Department of Personnel and Training said his voluntary retirement has been accepted "with the waiver of the notice period as recommended by the State Government".
Pandian began his bureaucratic career as the sub-collector of Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district in 2002. He was appointed the collector of Mayurbhanj district in 2005, and then in 2007, he was made the collector of Ganjam. It was during his posting in Ganjam that he became close to the chief minister.
Patnaik is originally from the Ganjam district.
Pandian joined the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in 2011, and since then, he has been Patnaik's private secretary.
After Patnaik became the chief minister for the fifth time in 2019, Pandian was given the additional responsibility of the '5T secretary' to implement some transformational initiatives in government departments.
The opposition BJP and Congress had asked him to resign and "officially join the BJD", after he went on a whirlwind tour across the state during which he held 190 meetings to hear public grievances."
