Contrary to >reports that he was asked to quit , the vice-chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), M. Sashidhar Reddy asserted that he had sent in his papers to the Prime Minsiter’s Office on Monday.
Speaking to The Hindu from Delhi, Mr. Reddy said there was no communication from the PMO about acceptance of his resignation. He was of the view that he would continue to hold charge as the vice-chairman till someone is appointed in his place.
“There is some wrong communication that I was asked to quit. I had sent my resignation on June 16”, Mr. Reddy said.
He was of the firm view that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the chairman of the NDMA, should have the freedom to reconstitute the body according to his vision and the roadmap he has for disaster management.
He maintained that he contemplated sending his papers on May 16, but did not do so keeping the work of the authority in view.
He said he managed to change the approach to all aspects disaster management during his stint as the vice-chairman. Earlier, the focus was more on rescue and rehabilitation, but now we managed to change it to prevention, preparedness, mitigation, recovery, reconstruction.
Mr. Reddy, who lost his Sanathnagar assembly seat in Hyderabad to rival Telugu Desam Party in the last general elections, was made member of the NDMA in 2005 and reappointed as member in 2010. Later he was made the vice-chairman in December 2010.
Correction
The report, “Sashidhar Reddy says he was not asked to quit” (June 20, 2014), quoted the vice-chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), M. Sashidhar Reddy, as saying that he had sent his resignation on July 16. It should have been June 16.
