VOLUNTEERISM IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT

ChinmayaIAS Academy - Current Affairs September 29, 2022 GS3 Leave a comment 204 Views

The National Disaster Management Authority celebrated its 18th Formation Day today in New Delhi.
The vision of NDMA is “To build a safe and disaster resilient India by developing a holistic, proactive, multi-disaster oriented and technology - driven strategy through a culture of prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response”.
The theme for this year’s Foundation Day was “Volunteerism in Disaster Management”.
NDMA is today representing India on various International Forums for Disaster Management like CDRI, wherein India is leading 31 Countries on various facets of innovation, technology and planning for a more structured and secure tomorrow, which percolate to saving of more lives.
A decade ago, the mortality rate was much higher, but with NDMA leading Disaster Management, the number of casualties has drastically reduced, it’s miniscule in comparison to the past record of lives lost since the safety/rescue measure adopted are much advanced today.”
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 immediate and first response, therefore, lies within the affected community in the form of volunteers who can play a crucial role in minimizing the losses, when adequately trained and equipped.
While the need of volunteerism in disaster management has been envisaged in the National Policy on Disaster Management 2009, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has also given great emphasis in his Ten Point Agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction, to build local capacities and initiatives and to encourage volunteerism in Disaster Risk Management.
Trained AapdaMitra volunteers from the States of Karnataka, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Uttar Pradesh along with the volunteers/cadets of other organisations such as
The National Cadet Core (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK), Civil Defence and Bharat Scout & Guide (BSG) attended the celebrations and displayed their personal equipment (ERK) as well as district level EERR equipment at the venue.
The Technical Sessions consisted of deliberations and experience sharing on Volunteerism in Disaster Management.
Participating States shared their best practises on Volunteerism in Disaster Management. Non-Government Organisations (NGO), viz. SEEDS, Sphere India,
World Vision India and Action Aid India presented their Case Studies in Disaster Management through volunteerism.