The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) had signed an MoU in 2015 with the National Institute of Disaster Management to setup the SCDR.
"We are going to face severe disasters in future and if we are unable to handle it effectively we are going to neutralise our growth," Rijiju said, adding that there was need to reach out to different communities at the grass root and sensitise them.
"We are now talking about disaster risk management and how to prevent them or mitigate the effect," he said.
It plans to also include scientific findings and social sciences to decipher and direct the findings to communities, and institutions for decision making.
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Rijiju also inaugurated the centre's website.
Speaking on the occasion, the UGC's acting chairman, V S Chauhan, said he was excited about the centre's aim of taking the social sciences approach to disaster management.
The centre will conduct a two-day workshop, starting today, on various topics.