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NDMA SCHEME

“AAPDA MITRA - TRAINING OF COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS IN DISASTER

RESPONSE IN INDIA”

1. Aim of the Scheme:

To train community volunteers in disaster response in the

selected most flood prone districts of India.

2. Need/Rationale for the Scheme:

(a) In case of any disaster or emergency, before any government

machinery & support reaches or outside help gets galvanized, it is

the Community which has to respond immediately. As the

Community plays the role of First Responder, it is critical that there

is adequate awareness and preparedness at the Community level

especially amongst people residing in the most vulnerable areas of

the country.

(b) When a disaster happens, volunteers from the affected

community are normally the first to act. The impact of volunteers in

disaster response can be tremendous, as the extent of damage – in

terms of economic and human loss – is greatly influenced by the

initial response to a disaster. Therefore, there lies a critical need to

train these volunteers in certain basic skills in disaster management

so that they are able to respond in an informed and prompt manner

as well as assist the concerned agencies in rescue and relief

operations. Over the years, the National Disaster Response Force

(NDRF), State Disaster Response Forces (SDRF) and other State

responders have successfully contributed towards saving of lives

and securing of assets in disaster situations in India. In a similar

manner, it would be important to train the volunteers drawn from

Civil Defence, Home Guards, Youths and members of the

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communities etc. so that they are able to assist the community in

effective disaster response.

(c) Floods have been a recurrent phenomenon in India and cause

huge losses to lives, properties, livelihood systems, infrastructure

and public utilities. India’s high risk and vulnerability is highlighted

by the fact that 40 million hectares out of a geographical area of 329

million hectares is prone to floods. On an average every year, 75

lakh hectares of land is affected,1600 lives are lost and the damage

caused to crops, houses and public utilities is Rs. 1805 Crores due to

floods( National DM Guidelines on Management of Floods 2008).

The frequency of major floods is more than once in five years. We

are also witnessing trends of areas getting inundated with Floods

which are not considered to be flood prone on account of

unpredictable weather and climate change phenomena. The

devastation caused by floods in recent years like the Mumbai Deluge

-2005, Kosi Mega Flood-2008 in Bihar, Uttarakhand Flashfloods

2013, Jammu Kashmir Floods -2014 and Chennai Floods -2015

highlight the critical need of strengthening local community capacity

for response to minimize loss of precious lives.

(d) The said NDMA scheme is to provide the community volunteers

with the basic skills that they will need to respond to their

community’s immediate needs in the aftermath of a disaster ( with a

focus on flood). These trained volunteers can assist in saving lives

using the basic techniques of disaster response, coordination and

management.

3. Objectives:

i. To train able-bodied community volunteers in disaster response (flood

relief and rescue) at the taluka/block level in each of the project

districts. These trained volunteers will be called as Aapda Mitra.

ii. To develop standardized training modules for the set of trainings under

the scheme

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iii. To train the volunteers in life saving skills of disaster response,

coordination and assistance, and provide personal protective

equipment and emergency responder kit.

iv. To create a Community Emergency Stockpile/Reserve at the

district/block level containing essential light search and rescue

equipments, medical first aid kits, etc.

v. To disseminate training and education tools developed under the

project to more number of flood prone districts in subsequent phases

of the scheme

4. Expected Targets:

i. 200 trained community volunteers in each of the selected most

vulnerable flood prone districts in 25 States of India ( Total 6000

trained volunteers in 30 most vulnerable flood prone districts of India

in 24 months – Annexure 1 reflects indicative list of the flood prone

districts)

ii. Training Institutions will be empanelled to impart trainings to

volunteers

iii. A full-fledged Information and Knowledge Management System which

will be dynamic in nature and will be reservoir of all training materials,

inventory of resources, etc will be integrated with NDMA website

5. Expected Outcomes:

a) Development and standardization of training modules by a National

Technical Agency (NTA) under the guidance of National Technical

Committee(NTC).

b) National Empanelling of Training Institutions

(Training/Academic/Non – Governmental Organizations) State/UT wise

which in turn will be training hubs for selected volunteers

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c) Trained and certified volunteers who will have the necessary

knowledge and skills to address the following: ( focused on flood relief

and rescue skills)

i. Would be able to know the types of hazards that are most likely to affect

their region, homes, workplaces, and neighbourhoods.

ii. Will be able to take steps to prepare themselves, their families, their

neighbourhoods with respect to flood relief and rescue

iii. Will be able to undertake rescue operations from emergency situations

such as floods, flash -floods and urban flooding

iv. Will be able to provide basic first aid to the affected disaster victims.

d) Development of Information Knowledge Management System

(including software, inventory database, knowledge tools, etc) for ongoing

capacity development interventions, refreshers and deployment of

trained human resources during disasters at National level linked to

States and UTs

e) A Community Emergency Stockpile/Reserve at the district/block level

containing essential light search and rescue equipments, medical first aid

kits, etc.

f) Mock drills and Refreshers will be conducted once in 2 years in each of

the project districts to rehearse / hone the skills of the certified

volunteers

Public Sector Companies/Private Sector/Industries who are

interested to train their staff; training programmes can be

organised for them under the scheme as well.

6. Timeframe :

24 months

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7. Constitution of a National Technical Committee:

(a) A National Technical Committee (NTC) comprising of National

Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Civil

Defence College (NCDC), National Disaster Response Force

(NDRF), National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM)

and other Expert Training Institutions/Experts imparting

specific practical training on flood relief and rescue will be

constituted to strategise/plan the framework for training

content, design, methodology, duration of training , number of

training modules, criteria for empanelment of training

institutions and selection of volunteers. Based on the broad

framework as outlined by NTC, a technical agency at the

national level will be tasked to prepare the training modules.

(b) Content of the Training shalll focus on flood relief and

rescue.

Details on the above as mentioned in Annexure 3 – SOP of the

Scheme document.

8. Implementation Strategy:

a. The scheme will be implemented by NDMA in partnership

with respective SDMAs and DDMAs. NDMA will be

responsible for overall technical oversight, supervision,

monitoring and project financing.

b. States/SDMAs shall be responsible for programme

implementation/administration and supervision at the

district level through DDMAs.

c. The administrative in-charge at local level for

implementation of the scheme will be Collector/DC/DDMA,

who will nominate a nodal officer for the project.

d. Training Institutions will be responsible for conduction

of trainings (will also locally adapt the standardised

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modules) as per details mentioned in the Annexure 3 – SOP

of the Scheme document.

e. DDMA of the project Districts shall finalize the list of

volunteers, based on the criteria as approved by NTC and

forward it to the empanelled training institutions with a

copy to SDMA/NDMA.

f. After successful completion of the training, the trained

volunteer will be certified jointly by NDMA , SDMA and

Training Institution and will be given an Emergency

Responder Kit

g. The scheme has also a provision of seed money for

augmentation of emergency stockpile at district level.

Details on the above as mentioned in Annexure 3 – SOP of the Scheme

document.

9. Funds Allocations under the Scheme/Per Project District:

S. No: Scheme Component Fund

Allocations/

per district (Rs.

In Lakhs.)

Specification

1. Printing of Training

Modules

1.60 @ Rs 100 per module for

8 modules for 200

participants per district

2. Training of Volunteers 28.8 @ 8 batches of trainings

per district ( up-to 25

participants in each

batch)

@ Rs. 3.6 lakhs. cost per

batch training

3. Purchase of

emergency responder

kit

10.00 @ Rs 5000 per kit for 200

volunteers per district

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4 Augmentation of

Emergency Stockpile

at Block /District level

5.00 @ Rs. 5 Lakhs. per district

TOTAL 45.40

The total fund allocation under the said scheme for one

project district is Rs.45.40 Lakhs.

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