Govt enhances NDRF deputation to 9 years to retain experts

The deputation period for personnel joining the elite disaster combat force NDRF has been enhanced by the government to nine years from the present five, a move seen as a shot in the arm to calamity response preparedness in the country.
Officials said the Union home ministry recently approved a proposal of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in this context so that the men and women it trains to handle disasters like earthquakes and bigger challenges like biological and nuclear attacks, remain with it for a longer period.
The approximately 14,000-personnel-strong force, which has 12 battalions deployed for disaster response in various parts of the country, was raised in 2006 as a fully deputationist organisation with men and women from paramilitary forces like CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB constituting its manpower.

With the officers and men now having a tenure of nine years in the NDRF, it will directly affect the response mechanism qualitatively and will ensure a better operational preparedness, a senior official said.
"It was seen that by the time an NDRF personnel gained expertise in the disaster combat subject, after the first three years of induction training and learning, it was their time to repatriate to their cadre at the end of five years," a senior official said.
The NDRF in the last few years, the official said, has seen many man-made and natural disasters occurring in various parts of the country and what they learn during these calamities was essential to be retained in the force for better output the next time.

But with a short tenure of five years, the official said, the talent pool was forced to leave even before their knowledge was utilised to the hilt.

It was also envisaged, he said, that the threat of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) attacks and accidents is emerging as a big challenge and the force needs to be in full readiness to combat such an outbreak and hence will require expert hands to address the situation that may be at one location or multiple places at one time, a senior home ministry official said.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, during a recent event, had described India as one of the most disaster-prone nations, saying more than 50 per cent population of the country lives in areas that are vulnerable to calamities.

Singh said that India has learnt lessons from the 1999 super cyclone in Odisha which killed 10,000 people, the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat and the 2004 tsunami, and has brought a paradigm change in its approach towards disaster risk mitigation.
As per the current system, about 15-20 per cent of the manpower of this elite force is rotated annually, or to say that this percentage of personnel are sent back to their parent forces, with new people taking over.
The NDRF has 12 battalions with a strength of 1,149 personnel in each. Each of its battalions have domain experts and teams of engineers, paramedics, technicians, electricians and canine handlers along with trained rescuers.

The force is mandated to undertake special disaster response and combat roles independently and also assist local authorities in launching a quick rescue and response operation to save life and property.