New Delhi
Agencies involved in disaster management should ensure that alerts generated for calamities should timely reach the remotest panchayat location in the country and organisations like NCC, women groups and home guards should be brought on board for this task, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday
He asked the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the federal agency to train and undertake operations during such emergencies, to take a leadership role in this context so that whenever such an emergency strikes, a trained personnel can work as a “stop gap arrangement” till professional rescuers reach the spot
He was speaking while inaugurating a two-day ‘annual conference on capacity building for disaster response 2022’ being held here.?
The meeting has been organised by the NDRF with representatives of various central and state disaster response forces and other related agencies participating
The NDRF should make sure that the alerts generated for an impending disaster reach the intended location, village and panchayat in time, he said
The minister said special focus should be given to cases of lightning strikes where time is less and it should be ensured that accurate alert reaches the intended village and its inhabitants
“We have made many apps (mobile applications) for a variety of disasters but a definite mechanism should be made so that the alerts reach in time to the remotest location,” Shah said
For this, the minister said, volunteers of the NCC (national cadet corps), NSS (national service scheme), home guards, women self help groups should be involved in the disaster management protocol
The literature and training module should also be prepared in local languages, he said
The information about the disaster has to percolate down correctly and for this we also need to have professional expertise, he added
“This will ensure that a trained personnel will be present at the remotest level where a disaster strike and that person will work as a stop gap arrangement till the NDRF or state disaster response force arrives,” he said
