Sujata Rout Karthikeyan VRS leaves behind a trailblazing legacy

Sujata Rout Karthikeyan, a name synonymous with women’s empowerment in Odisha, has resigned on voluntary retirement, leaving behind a legacy of meaningful initiatives.

A gold medallist from the IAS Academy and Lady Shri Ram College topper in Political Science, she then went on to do her master’s in International Politics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. A 2000-batch IAS officer, she spent her life in service working towards transformative governance, especially for women and the marginalized.

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Her most remarkable initiative was implemented during her stint as Collector of Sundargarh, a district hard hit by Naxal insurgency. In 2005, she initiated a path-breaking scheme for imparting cycles to high school girls through bank sponsorship. It was at a moment when poor transport connectivity and issues of safety saw many girls drop out of school that this rudimentary intervention—a reflection of her firm belief in mobility as a symbol of empowerment—helped keep thousands of adolescent girls enrolled in school.

Karthikeyan was also referred to as the “Football Collector” due to her initiative in popularizing sports in Sundargarh, frequently giving away footballs and hockey gear to kids in far-flung villages along the borders of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. She believed sports could be used to keep young people away from Naxal influence and drug addiction.

During her tenure, the district saw the construction of hostels for female hockey players and astro-turf pitches, solidifying Sundargarh as a hub of Indian hockey powerhouses.

In 2006, Karthikeyan initiated another groundbreaking intervention by adding eggs to the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme in Sundargarh government schools.

Instead of insisting for dal or oil, which come with less nutritional content, she pressed for the addition of eggs—a step that promptly resulted in higher school attendance, particularly on ‘egg days’ when even the younger siblings joined students to attend classes. This program was subsequently replicated throughout the state and continues to be an integral part of Odisha’s school nutrition initiative.

Karthikeyan was Odisha’s first woman Collector of Cuttack before moving into the Director of Social Welfare position. It was during her tenure that the Mamta scheme was initiated—a first-of-its-kind conditional cash transfer scheme for maternity benefits.

Unlike other bureaucratic schemes that involved too much paperwork, Mamta had a self-declaration format so that women could be provided with support without red tape.

The success of this project motivated the Indira Gandhi Maternity Benefit Scheme (IGMBS) at a national level.

Her most defining contribution perhaps was as the driving force behind Mission Shakti, Odisha’s flagship women empowerment program. Under her guidance, the program grew to cover 70 lakh women, with credit linkages increasing from ₹500 crore to ₹15,000 crore in seven years.

To further enhance women entrepreneurship, the program initiated zero-interest loans of up to ₹10 lakh, resulting in a spurt in women-run businesses.

Karthikeyan also initiated a model in which women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs) were formally incorporated into government schemes. More than one lakh women’s groups participated in activities like electricity bill collection, road maintenance, nursery cultivation, public infrastructure management, and even operation of state transport (Laxmi Buses) and Mission Shakti cafés.

These activities had brought a turnover of ₹11,000 crore from government-related activities alone. Her emphasis on identity and visibility for SHG members brought the program international—women were taken on study tours to Dubai and Singapore, and Mission Shakti products were placed in both physical stores and online websites.

The program even grabbed the attention of Bill Gates, who came to the Mission Shakti store in Bhubaneswar and appreciated its efforts in taking agricultural produce to urban consumers.

As the last administrative position she held, Karthikeyan was the Secretary of Culture for five months, during which she had the first-ever World Odia Language Conference held in Bhubaneswar. The conference was attended by Odia scholars, the diaspora, and college students in thousands, making it a red-letter day for the cultural heritage of the state.