By IANS
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday asked the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to develop itself as a high-level policy-making body capable of providing advice and assistance to states during times of disaster.
Chairing the first meeting of the NDMA here, the prime minister stressed the importance of citizen awareness in disaster management.
He observed that the setting up of the authority marked a “paradigm shift” in the government’s approach to disaster management. The shift was from compartmentalized to integrated, and from a purely response and relief-centric approach to a more holistic one, covering all aspects like prevention, mitigation, preparedness, relief, response and rehabilitation.
He said the objective of the NDMA is to provide focused attention to disaster management, bring to bear the best possible expertise and to generally professionalise the entire gamut of disaster management activities.
Manmohan Singh also reviewed preparedness to deal with different types of terrorist attacks.
Among a number of steps taken at the meeting to enable the authority to function better, it was decided to involve the ministers of agriculture, finance and home affairs as well as the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission with the authority. The task of immediate relief and response was assigned to the national executive committee of the NDMA.
Since certain categories of disasters need a broader approach and involvement of other agencies, it was decided to continue with the existing arrangements under the National Crisis Management Committee for dealing with such crises.