Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh released the Disaster Management Plan of Ministry of Panchayati Raj on 17^th March 2022, through video conferencing. The Disaster Management Plan was released in the presence of Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Dr. Chandra Shekhar Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Shri Krishna S. Vatsa, Member, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Shri Rajendra Singh, Member, NDMA, and other senior officers of the Government of India. Senior officers from the State Panchayati Raj Departments, State Disaster Management Authorities, State Relief Commissioners, also attended the event virtually.

Shri Giriraj Singh said that the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has developed the Disaster Management Plan with an aim to develop disaster resilience at the grassroots level among the Panchayats and establish a framework to align the disaster management measures in rural areas to that of the National Disaster Management Authority’. He also added that the convergent and collective actions to envision, plan and implement community-based disaster management plans, would be a game changer for our country in managing disasters comprehensively.

The Minister called for people’s participation in preparedness for disaster management and mitigation activities at grassroots level. Union Minister underlined that the involvement of the community is the key factor in any disaster preparedness strategy and active participation of the community is vital to carry out and sustain the activities relating to disaster management in rural areas. He stressed on the need to formulate Panchayat-level and village-level Disaster Management Plans to mitigate the challenges in the event of disaster. He says disaster management should be kept in mind while making a master plan for the holistic development of Panchayats in the country.

Shri Giriraj Singh recalled that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi appreciated the role of Panchayats in the management and mitigation of COVID-19 pandemic, especially in creating awareness and leading our collective battle against Coronavirus in rural areas. Union Panchayati Raj Minister expressed hope that Disaster Management Plan framed by Ministry of Panchayati Raj would also contribute to the efforts of the Government in bringing convergence in disaster management and planning in rural areas.

Shri Sunil Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj highlighted that the “Disaster Management Plan of Ministry of Panchayati Raj” (DMP-MoPR) has been prepared with larger perspective of community-based planning starting from Village to District Panchayat level. Under the Plan, every Indian village would have “Village Disaster Management Plan” and every Panchayat would have their Disaster Management Plan.

During the event, a brief presentation was made by Shri Krishna S. Vatsa, Member, National Disaster Management Authority in which he highlighted the important role of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Disaster Management Planning and the need for developing a culture of disaster risk resilience in rural areas. The event also saw participation from Shri Rajendra Singh, Member, National Disaster Management Authority.

The DMP prepared by Villages and Panchayats in consonance with the Disaster Management Plan of Ministry of Panchayati Raj would be useful for addressing disasters in comprehensive manner. All stakeholders including PRIs, elected representatives and functionaries of Panchayats etc. would participate in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the plan.  It is believed that this plan would be extremely useful for ensuring a participatory planning process for DMPs which is integrated with GPDP for addressing disasters across the country and initiate new era of community-based disaster management, convergence and collective action with programs and schemes of different Ministries / Departments.

Background:

India has been vulnerable, in varying degrees, to many natural as well as human-made disasters on account of its unique geo-climatic and socio-economic conditions. Different parts of the country are highly vulnerable to cyclones, floods, droughts, earthquakes, landslides, etc. Considering the important role that local communities can play in reducing vulnerabilities and early recovery, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR) has prepared this Disaster Management Plan (DMP) so that all Panchayati Raj Institutions along with communities can be prepared for any disaster.

It is noteworthy that the Disaster Management Plan of Ministry of Panchayati Raj (DMP–MoPR) incorporates many innovations in addition to being in compliance with Disaster Management Act 2005, National Disaster Management Policy 2009, and guidelines issued by National Disaster Management Authority.

The Disaster Management Plan comprehensively covers areas such as institutional arrangement for Disaster Management; Hazard Risk, Vulnerability and Capacity Analysis; Coherence of Disaster Risk Management across Resilient Development and Climate Change Action; Disaster Specific Preventive and Mitigation Measures-Responsibility Framework; Mainstreaming of Community Based Disaster Management Plan of Villages and Panchayats and so on.

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APS/JK