Civil Defence

CIVIL DEFENCE

The Civil Defence Policy of the Government till the declaration of emergency in 1962 was confined to making the States and Union Territories conscious of the need of Civil Defence measures and to ask them to keep ready Civil Defence Paper Plans for major cities & towns under the then Emergency Relief Organisation (ERO) Scheme. Two major incidents gave reason to the development of Civil Defence in India; the 1962 Indo-China and the 1965 Indo-Pak conflicts. This led to a considerable rethinking about the policy & scope of Civil Defence and as a result the Civil Defence Policy as it exists today, was evolved and Civil Defence legislation was enacted in the Parliament in 1968. In the 1971 Indo-Pak War, the Civil Defence acquitted itself commendably.

Civil Defence aims at saving lives, minimising damage to the property and maintaining continuity of industrial production in the event of an hostile attack. The Civil Defence Act of 1968, is though applicable throughout the country, but the organisation is only raised in such areas & zones which are tactically and strategically considered vulnerable from enemy attack points of view. At the moment Civil Defence activities are restricted to 135 categorised towns spread over 32 States/Union Territories. To meet the early warning communication requirement for an impending hostile attack, a reliable and flexible network, both on telephone lines and radio/wireless, have been established in most of the categorised Civil Defence Towns. Communication facilities, on telephone lines & radio, has also been planned and established in most of the Civil Defence towns for the purpose of command, control, coordination & liaison and also for mutual aid and cooperation.

Civil Defence is primarily organised on a voluntary basis except for a small nucleus of paid staff and establishment which is augmented during emergencies. The present target of Civil Defence volunteers is 394,000 personnel in 135 towns in 32 states. Apart from carrying out training and demonstration of Civil Defence measures during peacetime, Civil Defence volunteers are also deployed, on voluntary basis, in various constructive activities including assistance to the administration, relief & rescue work during natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, cyclones, droughts, etc. by the administration of the State Governments/Union Territories of their own. Civil Defence Training is conducted in the country on a three-tier concept, i.e. Local/Town level, at State level and National level. The National Civil Defence College at Nagpur, a subordinate training establishment of the Ministry, conducts various courses in civil defence and disaster relief management.