MHA asks CAPF to nominate 108 women personnel for each NDRF unit across country

There are 16 battalions of NDRF units stationed across the country. There are 51 women personnel from BSF, 92 from ITBP, 39 from SSB, 16 from Assam Rifles, 34 from CRPF and 7 from CISF, reports ETV Bharat’s Gautam Debroy.

New Delhi:Admitting thecrucial role being played by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) during natural disasters, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked all the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) to send the nomination of 108 women personnel for each NDRF unit stationed across the country.

According to the MHA, the women personnel should be within the authorisation of constables (General Duty) in NDRF for rescue and relief operations for women victims. “A total of 239 women personnel joined NDRF so far. CAPFs are being requested continuously to nominate women contingents for deputation to NDRF and this will be closely followed up at the ministry level,” a senior official in the MHA told ETV Bharat here on Friday.

Currently, there are 16 battalions of NDRF units stationed across the country. There are 51 women personnel from BSF, 92 from ITBP, 39 from SSB, 16 from Assam Rifles, 34 from CRPF and 7 from CISF. The intensity, magnitude and frequency of natural calamities have increased over the past few years in the changing weather and ecological scenarios across the globe. The role and responsibilities of NDRF have also increased manifold in providing immediate and timely intervention and relief to the victims in the post-calamity scenario.

“There is a need to further bring down disaster resilience at the community level, which can be done by grooming volunteers under the Aapda Mitra scheme to train and create awareness among people for speedy dissemination of alerts and mobilisation of the people during evacuation operations at the time of disasters,” the official said.

The civil defence volunteers in States and UTs are also trained by the NDRF on the lines of the Aapda Mitra scheme to further increase the number of trained people at the local level for rescue and rehabilitation activities at the time of disasters. The NDRF has been allocated Rs 1706.04 crore in budget estimates for 2023-24. “In case, additional funds are required by NDRF, the same will be projected at RE stage 2023-24,” the official said.

The ministry said that the Aapda Mitra scheme is being implemented by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) at a total cost of Rs 369.41 crore in 350 highly vulnerable districts to train 1,00,000 community volunteers by March 2024, which is being funded by Preparedness and Capacity Building Funding Window of National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

“All trained volunteers will be provided with an Emergency Responder Kit (ERK), including insurance covering death, permanent disablement, and hospitalisation. In all, 350 districts, a list of equipment under Emergency Essential Resource Reserve (EERR) will be reserved,” the official said.

As many as 86,113 volunteers have been trained till June this year. “The targets of the scheme will be achieved by March 31 next year,” the official said. The NDRF conducts school safety programmes, community awareness programmes and mock exercises for the capacity building of community volunteers.

Apart from this, NDRF also conducts one-day sensitisation training through lectures cum demonstrations and exhibitions from time to time for awareness of the community. NDRF conducts exclusive disaster management training for Civil Defence, Associate NCC officers (ANOs)/NCC, State Disaster Response Force, and other Central State organisations CAPFs. NDRF also conducts capacity-building training for Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangthan (NYKS) and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNVs) with a focus on training local volunteers as first responders.