Web Notice.

Review of Disaster Management Act, 2005 Communications have been sent to various stakeholders seeking their views and

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comments on the questionnaire prepared on the issue of implementability of Disaster Management Act, 2005. Concerns have been raised from time to time from several quarters including the State Governments about the constraints and limitations faced by them ..n course i of the implementation of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Accordingly, MHA had written to all the State Governments for articulating their concerns on this issue for taking further course of action by this Ministry. Based on the feedback received from the State Governments and Union Territories the Government of India has constituted a Task Force under the Chairmanship of Dr. P.t<:. Mishra, lAS, former Secretary (Agriculture), Government of India and presently Chairman, Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission, with an objective to examine and review the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and to suggest remedial measures. The Task Force has been mandated to gather information from the States and stakeholders through consultation and workshops regarding their concerns in" implementation of the Act and suggest necessary improvements/modifications required to remove the bottlenecks/impediments. The Task Force since its constitution has held two meetings and has decided to circulate a Questionnaire, enclosed herewith as Annexure on different provisions of the Act for seeking the ..views of the States/UTs and other stakeholders. The purpose of circulating the Questionnaire is to solicit suggestions on the remedial measures from them while seeking their views and comments in implementation of the different provisions -of the Act. It is suggested that replies to the questions should be precise and wherever required should be backed by evidence from their experiences. All concerned interested on the subject may give their views and comments questionnaire given as Annexure latest by is'' of April, 2012 to the undersigned.
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Ministry of HomeAffairs, Lok NavakBhawan, New Delhi e.mail : jsdm@nic.in

T.No.24638206

22/3/2012

Annexure Questionnaire for the Review of Disaster Management Act, 2005

The questionnaire on the DM Act, 2005 is to seek views and opinions of the stakeholders who have participated in and influenced the implementation of DM Act, 2005. The questionnaire covers all the chapters of the Act, and could be addressed in entirety so as to provide a general overview as well as specific suggestions on the actual functioning of the Act. However, if a particular institution or individual choose to address just one chapter or more chapter of the questionnaire on a selective basis, that would also be useful for the current exercise. There is also a set of general questions at the end which would record the overall impressions on the effective functioning of the Act. The replies to the questionnaire should be short, precise, and wherever required, backed by evidence from the recent experiences. Stakeholders, while giving their views and opinions towards implementation of the different provisions of the Act, should suggest implementable remedial / corrective measures in respect of the Questionnaire. Chapter I: Preliminary 1. Have the definitions provided in the Act served the DM institutions well in relation to their mandate and functioning? Are these definitions comprehensive and accurate? Chapter II: The National Disaster Management Authority 2. Does the Act assign adequate functions to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in respect to disaster management system of the country? Does the Act confer corresponding powers and authority upon the NDMA to carry out these functions? 3. Is there a clear demarcation of roles and responsibilities between the NDMA, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the State Governments in relation to disaster management as a result of the enactment? Have these institutions found it easier to recognize their roles clearly and perform their functions more efficiently as an outcome of the legislative provisions of the Act? 4. Has the Act achieved synergy between the MHA, NDMA, and other Government of India institutions in respect to various policies and programmes in relation to disaster management? Has the Act been able to provide clear guidance in relation to institutions, policies, and programmes at different levels of government through NDMA and other bodies? 5. Have the guidelines issued on various aspects of disaster management as per the provisions of the Act been the enabling factors for strengthening preparedness, mitigation, and response capacities? What needs to be done to strengthen the implementation of these guidelines? 6. What would be your recommendations for improving the present institutional structure of the NDMA so that it is more technically resourced and more flexible and agile in its functions? 7. What needs to be done to strengthen the role of NDMA vis-a-vis other ministries and agencies in the Government of India? 8. Does the NEC carry out the functions assigned to it as per the Act? How can the NEC carry out its role more effectively? 9. Do you view an overlap between the NEC and the National-level Crisis Committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary? How can the overlap between these two important bodies be addressed?

10.What needs to be done in respect to other existing mechanisms at the central level, which are not mandated by the Act, such as High-level Committee and the Inter-Ministerial Group?

Chapter III: State Disaster Management Authority 11.How have the State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) been constituted in states? Is the constitution of the SDMAs in conformity with the provisions of the Act? 12. Is the SDMA, as it has been constituted presently, really required at the state level? If it is required, should it continue in its present form? 13.What is the current role of SDMA at the state level? Is it restricted to policy-making or does it also include effective implementation? Are the functions assigned to the SDMAs adequate? In actual experience, are the SDMAs functioning effectively in various states? 14.Does the SDMA have its own independent office and staff? Or it is primarily a committee structure? 15.If the SDMAs need to be reorganized, what are the changes to its constitution, responsibilities, and functions that need to be made? Should it be a largely ministerial body in its constitution or should it consist largely of experts? 16. Does the State Executive Committee (SEC) represent the key departments / agencies for dealing with disasters? Has it been an effective institution in responding to various tasks? How is the SEC supported in its normal functioning? 17.Should the Chief Secretary be the CEO of the SDMA? Can the Chief Secretary realistically function as the CEO, SDMA? 18. What would be the role of the Relief Commissioner vis-a-vis the SDMA? Should the Relief Commissioner be an integral part of the SDMA or should he be functioning independently of the SDMA? 19.Who should be the CEO of the SDMA? Should it be the Chief Secretary, or Relief Commissioner, or some other senior officer appointed specifically for this job? 20.As a result of the emergence of SDMAs, what happened to the pre-existing Department of Relief and Disaster Management? If the Department of Relief and Disaster Management is still functioning, should it continue to function or should it be merged with the SDMA? 21.In your opinion, should the SDMA have a Secretariat to support its functioning? If so, where should it be located? Should it be an independent Secretariat or should it be located in the Department of Relief and Disaster Management? 22.How has the SDMA been perceived and recognized by other Departments / agencies of the State government, district administration, and municipal authorities? 23.How has the Act affected the functioning of the State-level Crisis Committee headed by the Chief Secretary? Does the Committee still exist? Or has the committee been replaced by the State Executive Committee? Chapter IV: District Disaster Management Authority 24.Has the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) come into existence as per the provisions of the Act? If so, is the DDMA an improvement upon the pre-existing disaster management system at the district level?

25.How has been the experience of functioning of the DDMAs? Are the powers entrusted with the DDMAs adequate to take decisions and implement them OR is it just a committee to deliberate and direct the line agencies to implement the decisions? 26.How have the DDMAs succeeded in developing the response capacity of the districts? Can they access the resources to improve preparedness at the district level? 27.Have the DDMAs been able to implement mitigation programmes by utilizing the existing government programmes such as MNREGA? How do they access expert assistance in implementing these schemes? 28.How is the DDMA discharging executive responsibilities? Do the DDMAs have adequate budget and support staff? Have the requisite staff been provided by the State Government? 29.How does the DDMA ensure the participation of communities and civil society organizations in its functioning? Has it been successful in doing so? 30.Has the Act provided the DDMA the power to coordinate with Central agencies, other State agencies, the Armed Forces, etc. in seeking resources and assistance for disaster management? Chapter V: Measures by the Government for Disaster Management (Response, Recovery, Preparedness, Mitigation) 31. Does the Act empower the authorities at the national, state, and district levels to organize response in an effective manner? By implication, does the Act enable these authorities to deploy emergency personnel (Police, Armed Forces, Search & Rescue Teams, Fire Brigade, etc.) in response to disaster events? Can it be substantiated with examples from recent disasters in your state / district? 32.Has the Act led to better preparedness on the part of the State governments / district administration? 33.Has it led to preparation of State and District-level Disaster Management Plans, SOPs, and other enabling mechanisms which facilitate preparedness and response? 34.Has the Act led to setting up of basic response facilities such as EOCs, Early Warning Systems, Communications Network, and Search and Rescue Teams which would improve the effectiveness of disaster response? It could be the case that a period of 6 years is too short for these activities. Nevertheless, across the states, has the Act helped to make a beginning in this direction? 35.Disaster response is primarily organized at the district level. Has the Act empowered the district authorities to seek better cooperation and resources from other departments, private sector and non-governmental sector to organize disaster response? Has this been demonstrated in any of the recent disasters? 36.Has the Act led to better assessment of disaster impacts and losses compared to the practices that existed before the Act came into effect? Have the recent large-scale disaster events been followed by a systematic assessment of damages and losses? 37.Has the Act enabled the State and district authorities to implement recovery policies and programmes in the wake of disasters? Do examples of recent floods across the country or the Sikkim earthquake substantiate this? 38.Has the Act led to Hazard, Risk and Vulnerability Assessments at the national, state and district levels? Have the mitigation plans been formulated on the basis of such assessments?

39.Has the Act made it mandatory for the implementing agencies to undertake mitigation measures? Has the Act led to implementation of a number of structural and non-structural mitigation measures in disaster-prone areas? 40.Has the Act supported community-based risk reduction and programmes?

Chapter VI: Local Authorities 41. Has the Act conferred enough responsibilities on local authorities in relation to disaster management? Does it specify the functions that these local agencies need to perform in situations of disasters? 42. Does the Act help these local authorities in accessing financial and technical resources for performing these functions? 43. Does the Act make it obligatory for urban bodies to maintain a certain level of emergency services related to fire control, transport, health, and water and sanitation? Chapter VII: National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) 44. Has the NIDM supported and responded to training and capacity-building needs as expressed by different authorities across the countries? 45. Has the NIDM provided expert assistance to national and state level institutions in relation to disaster management plans / policies? 46. Has the NIDM been able to support and strengthen state-level training centres in disaster management in different states? 47. Has the Act led to the development of a professional cadre in the area of Disaster Management at the national and state levels? 48. How has the Act encouraged the development of specialized skills and expertise in the area of Disaster Management? Chapter VIII: National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 49. How active has been NDRF in responding to disasters? Should its organizational structure be improved to enable it to provide more prompt services? What are the organizational improvements that need to be effected? 50. Should the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) also be included in the DM Act? Or should its formation and maintenance be regulated by suitable government orders? Chapter IX: Finance, Accounts and Audit 51. Have response and mitigation funds been set up at the national, state, and district levels as per the provisions of the Act? If yes, what has been the process followed for allocation towards these funds? 52.Do these funds operate as permanent, long-standing, and replenishable funds OR as simple budget heads under which allocations are made as per the needs?

53.How have these funds been functioning at different levels? Is there a clear distinction between response and mitigation when allocating resources from these funds? Have these terms been precisely defined in the Act to allay any overlap or confusion? 54.What are the national funds used for? At what level (national/state/district) are these funds spent? For example, if the national-level fund is spent at the state and district levels, what is the role of the state and district level funds? Does the national level fund replenish the district and state level funds? 55.Similarly, what are the state funds used for? At what level (state/district) are they spent? If they are spent at the district level, what is the role of the district level funds? Does the state level fund replenish the district level fund? 56.How are these funds administered? Who is the decision-making authority for the allocation of these funds? How is the accountability ensured in the utilization of these funds? 57.If these funds are statutory, they need to be audited. What are the arrangements devised to audit these funds? Chapter X and XI: Offences and Penalties, and Miscellaneous 58. Is it necessary to have such elaborate provisions for offences and penalties? In six years of functioning how many times have these provisions been invoked to penalize officers, employees, and others? 59. Does the Act confer any rights upon citizens and communities to seek redress with respect to deficiencies and shortcomings of Disaster Management functions performed by national, state and district-level institutions? 60. How has the Act created awareness of Disaster Management related issues among policy makers, administrators and specialists? 61. How has the Act addressed some of the emerging risks arising from climate change and variability, environmental degradation, sea erosion, etc? 62. Does the Act address slow onset disasters such as droughts and desertification? Have the provisions of the Act been invoked anywhere to mitigate the impacts of droughts and desertification? Overall Impact and Effectiveness of the DM Act 63. In the 6 years of functioning, has the Act strengthened the overall Disaster Management system in India at all levels and improved the management of disasters, as evidenced in the case of recent disasters? 64.Has the Act been able to leverage more resources, technical and financial, for disaster management system in India? 65.Has the Act been able to provide a good balance of powers and functions at the national, state and district levels? Has it decentralized disaster management in India by allocating adequate power and resources to state and district-level institutions? Or conversely, has it centralized disaster management by concentrating powers in national level institutions?