Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) [India], June 25 (ANI): Former IAS officer Sujata Rout Karthikeyan joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Thursday, bringing with her over two decades of administrative experience in Odisha.

Rout was formally inducted into the party by former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. During the induction ceremony the former IAS officer was seen seeking blessings from Patnaik as she took on a new reponsibility.

A 2000-batch IAS officer, Karthikeyan holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, where she was a university topper, and a Master's degree in International Politics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

During her training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, she received the Ashok Bamawale Award for Best Officer Trainee.

Over the course of her administrative career, Karthikeyan held several key positions in Odisha and was associated with a number of welfare and development initiatives. As Collector of Sundargarh district, she introduced a bicycle distribution programme for schoolgirls through bank sponsorship to reduce dropout rates among tribal students. The initiative was later expanded across the state.

She also promoted sports among rural youth, particularly hockey, and supported the development of sports infrastructure in the district.

Karthikeyan was also credited with introducing eggs into the Mid-Day Meal scheme in Sundargarh in 2006, a move that was subsequently scaled up by the state government.

She later became the first woman Collector of Cuttack district and served as Director of Social Welfare, where she played a key role in launching the Mamata Scheme, a maternity benefit programme aimed at supporting pregnant women and young mothers.

As a senior bureaucrat, she was closely associated with the Mission Shakti initiative, one of the flagship programmes of the Naveen Patnaik government. During her tenure, the programme expanded significantly, strengthening women's self-help groups through credit support, entrepreneurship promotion and participation in government-linked economic activities.

Karthikeyan also briefly served as Secretary, Culture, and was instrumental in organising the first World Odia Language Conference in Bhubaneswar, which brought together language scholars, members of the Odia diaspora and students from across the country and abroad. (ANI)