A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a society, causing widespread human, material or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected society to cope using only its own resources. Disasters may be sudden (like and earthquake / tsunami) or slow ( like a drought) or they could be natural or man-made. As India has a large number of vulnerable regions, natural disaster management has emerged as a top priority for the country. India has an integrated administrative machinery for the management of disasters at the National, State, District and sub-district levels. The basic responsibility of undertaking rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures in the event of natural disasters at present is that of the State Governments concerned with the Central Government supplementing the efforts of the States by providing financial and logistical support.
Response to Disaster Management:
The ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal Ministry for coordinating relief, response and overall natural disaster management, and the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation is the nodal Ministry for drought management. Other Ministries responsible for other categories of disasters are Ministry of Civil Aviation for air accidents. Ministry of Railways fir railway accidents, Ministry of Environment & Forests for chemical disasters, Ministry of Health for biological disasters and Department of Atomic Energy for nuclear disasters.
Training & Education:
One of the important initiatives of the Government of India, Ministry of Human resource Development in its Tenth Five Year Plan includes the inclusion of disaster management in the curriculum of schools and professional education. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSC) has introduced the subject on Disaster Management in Social Science for classes VIII in the year 2003 and for class IX in 2004 and for class X thereafter. The curriculum, course content, etc. has been developed with support from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India and the United Nations Development Programme. (UNDP).
1. Certificate programme in Disaster Management (CDM):
2. PG Diploma programme in Disaster Management( PGDDM): * Indira Gandhi National Open University, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068. (www.ignou.ac.in) * University of North Bengal, P.O North Bengal University, Dt. Darjeeling-734430. (www.nbu.ac.in)
(a)1-year post Graduate Diploma in Disaster Management: International Centre of Madras University, University of Madras, Chepauk, Chennai-600005. (www.unom.ac.in/ icom.html)
(b)PG Diploma in Disaster Management: Sikkim Manipal University of Health, Medical and Technological Sciences, Tadong, Gangtok, Sikkim. [www.sikkimmanipal.net] in association with Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment ( A-15, Paryavaran Complex, Saket, Maidangarhi Marg, New Delhi-110030) (www. Ecology.edu/ iiee /courses.htm) {Disaster Management personnel are invaluable when disaster strikes. They are trained to manage emergency situations and respond to the needs of the people and areas affected in a quick and efficient manner. They may be responsible for evacuating a town in danger, managing the distribution of food to people in crisis or overseeing the provision of medical care to injured people.}
Career Opportunities:
Careers in disaster management are usually government jobs, jobs with emergency services, law enforcement, local authorities, relief agencies, non-governmental organizations and international agencies such as the United Nations, etc. Private sector careers are also available while fulfilling their corporate social responsibilities. Training and workshops on disaster management are helpful to administrative/ civil servants, civil engineers, police and defence personnel, fire fighters and other protective service workers. Systems or network administrators, database analysts or administrators, security administration or operations analysts are positions to participate in an organization’s disaster recovery planning and management in the sphere of information technology. Social workers, engineers, medical health experts, environmental experts, rehabilitation workers, scientist etc. could also have careers in disaster management, disaster mitigation and rehabilitation.
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