Disaster management meeting: Home Secretary L C Goyal absent, MPs walk out of panel meet

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The spokesman for the ministry, however, said, “The home secretary had taken written permission from the chairman of the committee. The addl secretary (foreigners) attended on his behalf along with a team of officers from MHA. The meeting went off very well. Two MPs went out after taking permission from the chair.”

The home secretary could not be contacted for comment; his phone went unanswered, as did messages.

Congress members stayed on in the meeting but Mallikarjun Kharge, sources said, registered a strong protest about the continued absence of the officer.

Among MPs who stayed on, the Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien pointed out that given the vulnerability of the area around the Himalayas to massive earthquakes, vacancies in the National Disaster management Authority do not augur well for the country.

Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar spoke of studies suggesting the fissures caused during the recent earthquake are susceptible to water seepage during the monsoons, making the mountains more vulnerable to breakage.

MPs also expressed concern about the conduct of Indian journalists in Nepal. “The autonomy of the media will of course have to be protected but some ground rules for conduct may need to be laid down,” said one.