• Constituted under Section 44 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 for specialized disaster response.
• Functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and is headed by a Director General (DG), typically an IPS officer.
• Initially established in 2006 with 8 battalions, now expanded to 16 battalions.
• Operates under the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), chaired by the Prime Minister.

• Primary Role: Rescue and relief operations during natural and man-made disasters such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes, landslides, building collapses, and accidents.
• Strategic Deployment: Resources are pre-positioned during imminent disaster situations to minimize damage.
• Active in international relief efforts, including the 2011 Fukushima disaster and the 2015 Nepal Earthquake.
• Provides multi-skilled, highly specialized responses, with capabilities for handling complex disaster scenarios.

• Consists of 16 battalions, each with 1,149 personnel.
• Personnel are drawn from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs): CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, and Assam Rifles.
• Members are trained in disaster response, relief, and recovery operations.
• Focus on proactive availability and pre-positioning during disasters to ensure quick response.

IMPORTANT: National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF)

• The NDRF is a statutory body constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
• It supplements State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) of a State, in case of a disaster of severe nature, provided adequate funds are not available in SDRF.
• The July 2015 guidelines states that natural calamities of cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood, tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloud burst, pest attack and cold wave and frost will qualify for immediate relief assistance from NDRF.
• NDRF is managed in the “Public Accounts” under “Reserve Funds not bearing interest”.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) audits the accounts of NDRF.

PYQ:

[2020] Discuss the recent measures initiated in disaster management by the Government of India departing from the earlier reactive approach.