New Delhi [India], March 25 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday that the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024, aim to increase transparency, accountability, efficiency and cooperation.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during the discussion on the Bill, Shah said that transparency, trust, credibility and accountability have been given place in it. Shah also said that well-defined roles have been fixed in it and moral responsibilities have also been given place.
The Home Minister said that we have also fixed responsibility for the best use of resources. He said that through this Bill, an attempt has been made to fight against disaster with synergy, between preparation, good management and coordination. Many reforms have been made on these four pillars and not a single one of these reforms is for the centraliSation of power.
Shah said that in the last ten years, on one hand, Prime Minister Modi has done many things for environmental protection and on the other hand, he has also taken disaster management a long way forward. He said that on one hand Modi talked about Mission Life in front of the world and on the other hand he also announced a ten-point disaster risk reduction agenda.
He said that in this bill, the biggest responsibility in the aftermath of disasters has been given to s, which is under the state government, thus, there is no question of any damage to our federal system.
He said that for financial assistance, the National Disaster Response Fund and National Disaster Mitigation Fund were created.
The Home Minister said that the Finance Commission has made a scientific arrangement for disaster relief, and the Modi government has not given a single penny less than the prescribed amount to any state; rather, it has given more.
"The budget of SDRF was Rs 38 thousand crores during the year 2004 to 2014, which was increased to Rs 1 lakh 24 thousand crores by the Modi government during 2014 to 2024. Rs 28 thousand crores were given to NDRF from 2004 to 2014, while Rs 80 thousand crores were given from 2014 to 2024," Shah highlighted.
He also highlighted that the government has increased the total amount from Rs 66 thousand crores to more than Rs two lakh crores.
"The Modi government has given more than three times the money to the states from the central funds. Apart from this, a National Disaster Response Reserve of 250 crores was created, the first National Disaster Management Plan was released in 2016 which is completely in line with the Sendai framework, the Subhash Chandra Bose Disaster Management Award was established in 2018-19 and the first phase of National Cyclone Risk Mitigation was done in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in 2018," Shah said.
He said that in 2020-21, the Home Ministry decided that the Inter-Ministerial Consultative Team (IMCT) would first go and do an immediate review, and the Modi government made a provision to provide immediate assistance by sending 97 IMCTs within 10 days in five years.
Further, the Union Home Minister said that this Bill will make both NDMA and SDMA effective, and a disaster database will be created at the national and state level. It envisages the creation of an Urban Disaster Management Authority, which will be completely under the state governments.
"Apart from this, this Bill will also give statutory power to NDMA and SDMA in creating a blueprint for 100 per cent implementation of the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission," he said.
Shah emphasized that they have declared the disaster in Wayanad, Kerala as a disaster of severe nature.
"Rs 215 crore was immediately released from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). Rs 36 crore was sent for debris removal, which has not been spent yet. Apart from this, assistance of Rs 153 crore was given based on the IMCT report. The state government has estimated the need for Rs 2219 crore for normalizing the situation and reconstruction, out of which Rs 530 crore has been given. Along with this, other measures have been suggested to get additional assistance from a special window," he said.