The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Keep watch on tsunami relief work, media told

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 30, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Keep watch on tsunami relief work, media told

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, MARCH 29. The journalist and former chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Press Academy, Potturi Venkateswara Rao, has exhorted media to keep a close watch on the rehabilitation programme taken up by the Government and other organisations for tsunami victims.

Speaking at a round table on `Resettlement and rehabilitation of tsunami victims: role of media' organised jointly by the Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre (AMIC), South Asian Media Association (SAMA), UNESCO, and Friedrich Ebert Foundation, New Delhi, here on Tuesday, Mr. Rao commended the role played by the media in highlighting the tragedy.

He felt that the media had not shown the same interest in the resettlement and rehabilitation work. Thanks to the media coverage, Non-Governmental Organisations across the globe came forward to provide much-needed relief to the victims.

Poor coordination

Despite experiencing disasters periodically, the Government was ill equipped to handle such a situation. He regretted that there was poor coordination between the Government and NGOs on the relief and rehabilitation front.

Rajeshwar Dyal, media director, FES, New Delhi, said the actual task of rehabilitation of the victims begins now after overwhelming response to the relief operation. The chairman of Disaster Management Centre, K. Yadava Reddy, pointed out that relief was not properly regulated.

Nandini Sahai, country manager, AMIC, said that two more such round table meetings would be conducted in Chennai and Kerala in the next few months. The SAMA convener, Abdur Rahim, said that media should build documentation and data centres with R&D updates so as to help and support other institutions in capacity building.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh