T Nanda Kumar resigns as NDDB chairman

Sources indicate the resignation is due to personal reasons and he'd be returning to his hometown in Kerala

T Nanda Kumar has resigned as chairman of Gujarat-based National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) from August 1, about 30 months ahead of the end of his tenure.

In his parting letter to colleagues, Nanda Kumar wrote, “I took over as chairman on March 3, 2014, amid apprehensions about the wisdom of posting a retired IAS officer to a job so far held by just two tall leaders of the dairy industry and that too for a long spell of 49 years between them. I had a job to do and I was committed to it. I was confident that with Team NDDB, we can make a difference to the life of farmers in India.”

He added: “There comes a time in everyone’s life when one’s value system comes into serious conflict with the external environment. A point of no compromise becomes a point of no return. I have gone through such situations many times before. The dilemma is should one allow such conflicts to affect an institution?”

Explaining his decision to resign, Nanda Kumar said: "I have always believed that institutions are important, personalities should not matter beyond a point. I have reached such a point. I have, therefore, resigned.”

Nanda Kumar is learnt to have submitted his resignation on June 29, which was accepted by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet on Wednesday. He would be relieved from duty from August 1.

At present, the senior-most whole-time director of the board has been given additional charge of the post until a new chairman is appointed.

NDDB sources said the resignation was due to personal reasons and he was heading back to his hometown in Kerala.

He has been working as the NDDB chief since March 3, 2014, and was the third chairman of the board, after V Kurien (1965-1998) and Amrita Patel (1998- February 2014).

Kumar joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1972 and was allotted the Bihar cadre. He has also attended various short-term training programmes at the universities of UK, France, and the US, including Harvard.

He served as chairman of the Spices Board in Cochin for a period of five years, during which time the changeover to World Trade Organization regime took place globally.

He also did an assignment at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Bangladesh for three years.

Kumar was appointed the food secretary in 2006. He was agriculture secretary in 2008, a position he retired from in 2010.