The Modi Cabinet has approved Rs 12,554 crore under the 'National Disaster Mitigation Fund,' 'National Disaster Response Fund,' 'State Disaster Mitigation Fund,' and 'State Disaster Response Fund'.
The Narendra Modi government 3.0 has been proactively involved in improving India’s disaster management infrastructure and response.
The Modi Cabinet has approved Rs 12,554 crore under the ‘National Disaster Mitigation Fund,’ ‘National Disaster Response Fund,’ ‘State Disaster Mitigation Fund,’ and ‘State Disaster Response Fund’ for states for urban flood management, firefighting services, glacial lake outburst, flood mitigation, and other disaster mitigation efforts.
The Union Home Ministry has also sanctioned Rs 890.69 crore to five states to help them in expansion and strengthening of their fire services under the Scheme for Expansion and Modernisation of Fire Services.
The Central government has also approved ‘Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme’ as an extension of the existing ‘Upscaling of Aapda Mitra Scheme’ with an outlay of Rs 470.50 crore.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS 2.0) has also been implemented in states/union territories. The ERSS works with a single emergency number 112 for all emergency signals from the citizens through voice call or SMS.
The Modi government has also introduced the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in the Lok Sabha to amend the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The bill seeks to achieve the objectives of bringing more clarity and convergence in the roles of different central government organisations like the National Disaster Management Authority and National Executive Committee, which are working in the field of disaster management.It will also provide statutory status to certain pre-Act organisations like the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) and High-Level Committee (HLC), promote more efficient NDMA and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs).The bill would also bring more clarity and convergence in the roles of different government organisations working in the field of disaster management, thereby resulting into more effective management of disasters which in turn would also help the poor and disadvantaged sections and further lead the country to become Atmanirbhar in the field of disaster management.The central government also went into action mode after the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh floods. An expert team has been formed to address the floods in the two states.(With PTI inputs)
