COORDINATION BETWEEN NDRF AND SDRF

The primary responsibility of disaster management rests with the State Government concerned. The Central Government, wherever required, supplements the efforts of the State Governments by providing logistic and financial support in cases of natural disasters of severe nature.

Under section 44 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was constituted. At present, NDRF has 16 Battalions, which are located as per vulnerability profile of the country to provide immediate response during disasters. NDRF is equipped with state of art equipment to provide specialist response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster.

As per the National Policy on Disaster Management, raising of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and equipping them is with the State/ UT Governments concerned. The Central Government regularly follows up with the State/UT Governments to raise SDRF and equip them with adequate disaster response capabilities. To facilitate the State Governments, the Central Government has also shared the list of disaster response equipments with them, with the request to equip their SDRF in line with NDRF.

For better coordination and synergy between NDRF and SDRF and to provide multiplier effects towards relief and rehabilitation during natural disasters, major steps taken by the Government are as under:

1. NDRF organizes annual conference of SDRF including other stakeholders concerned. The conference provides an opportunity to share best practices to improve the response capabilities through mutual cooperation/ coordination in case of any disaster.
2. Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) organizes annual conference of Relief Commissioners and Secretaries of the Department of Disaster Management of States and Union Territories to review the status of preparedness to deal with disaster or impending disaster situation before South-West Monsoon.

• iii. NDRF regularly conducts mock drills/ exercises involving SDRF and other stakeholders. These mock drills/ exercises provide platform for effective coordination between NDRF and SDRF.
• iv. NDRF is relentlessly engaged in Community Capacity Building and public awareness and preparedness programmes.

5. NDRF renders necessary assistance for capacity building of the SDRF. The Government of India has also established a premium institute i.e. NDRF Academy at Nagpur to impart training to NDRF personnel and other stakeholders, including SDRF. Besides, NDRF Battalions are also imparting training to SDRF personnel in various disaster management courses.

• vi. In the wake of disaster/ impending disaster situation, NDRF officials also participate in the coordination meetings organized by the State Governments/local administration.

7. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also advises State/UTs regarding training, equipment and prepositioning of their SDRFs.

The Central Government with its continuous efforts has significantly improved its preparedness to deal with the natural calamities. With the coordinated efforts at various levels, the disaster response mechanism has improved substantially and the loss of human lives due to natural disasters has been substantially reduced in the country.

This was stated by Minister of State for Home Affairs Shri Nityanand Rai in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.