Shah may resign this week.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: Even as there is excitement and buzz in Indian American circles on Capitol Hill about the confirmation of Rahul Richard Verma as the US ambassador to India, and the possible confirmation tomorrow of Dr. Vivek Murthy as the Surgeon General of the country, a top Obama administration official Rajiv ‘Raj’ Shah is rumored to be likely stepping down.
Shah, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development who coordinated the United States’ international response to the Ebola crisis, is said to be leaving his post, and chatter has it that the announcement could come this week, reported The Washington Post.
Shah joined the Obama administration at almost the very beginning in April 2009, working first in the Department of Agriculture before President Obama nominated him to head USAID at the end of 2009. Before that, he worked for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
At USAID, Shah leads more than 9,600 professionals in 80 missions around the world, and manages an annual budget of over $22 billion, the chief mission is to eradicate poverty globally.
Shah, in an interview last month with The Washington Post about dealing with Ebola in Liberia, said he had political aspirations but didn’t know what he’d do when he was done at USAID.
Under Shah, USAID – which had long been criticized for funding projects overseas that didn’t do what they promised – started leveraging private business and moved away from using U.S. contractors in favor of shoring up local initiatives in developing countries. It’s a move that drew him praise from some and criticism from others.
“These are nothing but rumors,†a USAID spokesman said, when the Post asked him about Shah’s plans. “Dr. Shah remains just as committed today to USAID’s important work and mission as he was five years ago when he began an ambitious reform agenda that has led to better, faster, and more cost effective solutions to end global poverty on behalf of the American people.â€
Shah has an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and M.Sc. in Health Economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and also attended the London School of Economics.