UPSC Essentials: One word a day – NDMA, the statutory body

Subject: Disaster Management (DM)

Relevance: Very important as disasters have become very common. Also, this body was in news due to its foundation day. We go deep in understanding the theme of the foundation day through a government scheme and an inspiring example or a case study that an aspirant can quote and enrich the answer in Essay, GS III and Ethics. ‘Volunteerism’ is the underlined term.

Why in news?

— The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) celebrated its 18th Formation Day on September 28, 2022, in New Delhi.

— The theme for this year’s Foundation Day was “Volunteerism in Disaster Management”.

What is NDMA?

— The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is India’s apex statutory body for disaster management.

— The NDMA was formally constituted on 27^th September 2006, by the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

— The Prime Minister is its chairperson and it has nine other members. One of the nine members is designated as Vice-Chairperson.

— Disaster Management Act also envisaged the creation of State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by respective Chief Ministers and the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) headed by the District Collectors/ District Magistrate and co-chaired by Chairpersons of the local bodies.

— The primary responsibility for the management of disaster rests with the State Government concerned. However, the National Policy on Disaster Management puts in place an enabling environment for all i.e., the Centre, state and district.

— India is also a signatory to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) that sets targets for disaster management.

How has NDMA evolved?

— NDMA has also gone through the same stages. The Government of India (GOI), in recognition of the importance of Disaster Management as a national priority, set up a High-Powered Committee (HPC) in August 1999 and a National Committee after the Gujarat earthquake, for making recommendations on the preparation of Disaster Management plans and suggesting effective mitigation mechanisms.

— The tenth Five-Year Plan document also had, for the first time, a detailed chapter on Disaster Management. The Twelfth Finance Commission was also mandated to review the financial arrangements for Disaster Management.

— On December 23, 2005, the Government of India enacted the Disaster Management Act, which envisaged the creation of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister, and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by respective Chief Ministers, to spearhead and implement a holistic and integrated approach to Disaster Management in India.

What is the vision of NDMA?

— “To build a safer and disaster resilient India by a holistic, pro-active, technology driven and sustainable development strategy that involves all stakeholders and fosters a culture of prevention, preparedness and mitigation.”

— According to NDMA website, India envisions the development of an ethos of Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness. The Indian government strives to promote a national resolve to mitigate the damage and destruction caused by natural and man-made disasters, through sustained and collective efforts of all Government agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations and People’s participation. This is planned to be accomplished by adopting a Technology-Driven, Pro-Active, Multi-Hazard and Multi-Sectoral strategy for building a Safer, Disaster Resilient and Dynamic India.

What are the functions and responsibilities of NDMA?

— NDMA, as the apex body, is mandated to lay down the policies, plans and guidelines for Disaster Management to ensure a timely and effective response to disasters. Towards this, it has the following responsibilities: –

• Lay down policies on disaster management.
• Approve the National Plan.
• Approve plans prepared by the Ministries or Departments of the Government of India in accordance with the National Plan.
• Lay down guidelines to be followed by the State Authorities in drawing up the State Plan.
• Lay down guidelines to be followed by the different Ministries or Departments of the Government of India for the Purpose of integrating the measures for prevention of disaster or the mitigation of its effects in their development plans and projects.
• Coordinate the enforcement and implementation of the policy and plans for disaster management.
• Recommend provision of funds for the purpose of mitigation.
• Provide such support to other countries affected by major disasters as may be determined by the Central Government.
• Take such other measures for the prevention of disaster, or the mitigation, or preparedness and capacity building for dealing with threatening disaster situations or disasters as it may consider necessary.
• Lay down broad policies and guidelines for the functioning of the National Institute of Disaster Management.

“Volunteerism in Disaster Management”: Apda Mitra scheme

— The National Disaster Management Authority of India (NDMA), started a scheme to train community volunteers in disaster response in selected flood-prone districts of India.

— Stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha in March 2022

“The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has implemented a Scheme of Aapda Mitra on a pilot basis to train 6000 community volunteers (200 per district) in 30 flood-prone districts of 25 States/UTs in disaster response   with  a  focus   on   flood,  so  that   they  can   respond   to  the community’s immediate needs in the aftermath of a disaster. More than 5500 volunteers have been trained under the pilot scheme.

Based on the success of the pilot scheme, and request from the States/UTs, Government of India has approved the Up-Scaling of Aapda Mitra Scheme, covering 350 districts prone to flood, landslide, cyclone and earthquake to train 1,00,000 community volunteers in disaster response.

Apart from this, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) conducts community awareness programmes for the capacity building of community in disaster management. In the year 2021, NDRF has trained 1380 community volunteers in disaster management.

NDRF is also conducting School Safety Programme (SSP) and imparting basic training to school children as well as teachers to evacuate themselves during an earthquake. During 2021, NDRF has conducted 81 SSPs covering 18,057 beneficiaries.

To inform, educate and to make the people aware, NDMA runs awareness generation campaigns through electronic and print media, including social media, on various disasters, from time to time. These campaigns include Do’s & Don’ts, Audio-Visual films, messages containing preparedness before, during and after disaster events.”

Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Nityanand Rai on the occasion of the foundation day of NDMA, 2022 said “Sewa, Samarpan & Paropkar” is the identity of Aapda Mitras.

Why such a scheme?

— When a disaster happens, volunteers from the affected community are normally the first to act.

— In any disaster, however quick the government machinery may be, external help takes time to reach the affected people and this time lag is very crucial in saving lives and livelihood.The impact of volunteers in disaster response can be tremendous, as the extent of damage – in terms of economic and human loss – is greatly influenced by the initial response to a disaster. Therefore, there lies a critical need to train these volunteers in certain basic skills in disaster management so that they are able to respond in an informed and prompt manner as well as assist the concerned agencies in rescue and relief operations.

“Volunteerism in Disaster Managements”: Inspiring example or a Case study

Kerala Floods in 2018:

— A team of 30 volunteers, comprising journalists, lawyers and IT workers, managed several operations besides supplying food to over 30,000 people following distress calls they received on the 1077 helpline number. They took control of the Rescue Operation Centre at Ernakulam of the district disaster management authority.

— They managed these operations with the help of hundreds of fishermen and also coordinated with several choppers through personal contacts in Air Force and NDRF.

— The 30-member team eventually split into multiple teams as the volume of distress calls went up. “It was something we never anticipated,” said one of the volunteers.

— Harish Vasudevan, a Kerala High Court lawyer, said the team was split to handle the huge number of distress calls. “One group of nine attended calls and noted down details. Another team of nine engaged in data entry, while the others made calls and used social media to coordinate rescue efforts In several cases, we reached out to personal contacts,” he said. As Aluva, Chalakkudi and Paravur areas witnessed massive flooding, the 30-member team connected to several WhatsApp groups with over 1200 volunteers in all, including celebrity radio jockeys to IT employees to lawyers to fishermen.

Point to ponder: How we can have disaster-free floods?

MCQ:

Which of the following statement is not true with respect to NDMA?

a) It is a statutory body.

b) Prime Minister of India is the Chairperson of the NDMA.

c) Nine other members of the NDMA are nominated by the chairperson.

d) the Minister of State for Home Affairs acts as the Vice-Chairperson of NDMA.

Answer to previous MCQ: One word a day – A-G  (d)

Post Read Q&A

Can you recall what you read?

1. What was the theme of 18th Foundation Day of NDMA? What does it mean?
2. Who are Apda Mitrs and what should be their identity ?
3. List a few responsibilities of NDMA