Ministries and Departments of the Government
(Covered functions)
Ministry of Agriculture
It is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to agriculture inIndia.
The three broad areas of scope for the Ministry are
* agriculture
* food processingand
* co-operation
It consists of three Departments namely:
* Department of Agriculture Research and Education
* Department of Agriculture and Co-operation
* Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries
Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE)
* To look after all aspects of the agricultural research and Education (including horticulture, natural resources management, agriculture engineering, agricultural extension, animal science, economic statistics and marketing and fisheries) involving coordination between the central and state agencies.
* To attend all matters relating to Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
* To attend all matters concerning the development of new technology in agriculture, horticulture, natural resources management, agriculture engineering, agricultural extension, animal science, economic statistics and marketing and fisheries, including such functions as plant and animal introduction and exploration and soil and land use survey and planning.
* International co-operation in the field of agricultural research and education including relations with foreign and international agricultural research and educational institutions and organizations, including participation in international conferences, associations and other bodies dealing with agricultural research and education and follow-up decisions at such international conferences etc.
* Fundamental, applied and operational research and higher education including co-ordination of such research and higher education in agriculture including agro forestry, animal husbandry, dairying, fisheries, agricultural statistics, economics and marketing.
Department of Agriculture and Cooperation
* It is responsible for the formulation and implementation of National policies and programmes aimed at achieving rapid agricultural growth through optimum utilization of the countrys land, water, soil and plant resources.
* It undertakes all possible measures to ensure timely and adequate supply of inputs and services such as fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, agricultural implements and also to provide agricultural credit, crop insurance and ensure remunerative returns to the farmer for his agricultural produce.
* It is entrusted with the responsibility for collection and maintenance of a wide range of statistical and economic data relating to agriculture, required for development planning, organizing agricultural census, assisting and advising the States in undertaking scarcity relief measures and in management of natural calamities e.g. flood, drought, cyclone, etc.
* It is responsible for the formulation of overall cooperative policy in the country, matters relating to national cooperative organizations, cooperative training and education.
* The Department also participates in activities of international organizations, for fostering bilateral cooperation in agricultural and allied sectors.
Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DADF)
* Development of requisite infrastructure in States/ Union territories for improving animal productivity.
* Preservation and protection of livestock through provision of health care.
* Strengthening of central livestock farms (Cattle, Sheep and Poultry) for development of superior germplasm for distribution to states.
* Expansion of aquaculture in fresh, brackish water, welfare of fisherfolk, etc.
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
It is the administrative unit of three departments namely:-
* Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals
* Department of Fertilizers
* Department of Pharmaceuticals
Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals
It is entrusted with the responsibility of policy, planning, development and regulation of Chemicals and PetrochemicalsIndustries.
The business allocated to the Department is listed as below:
* Insecticides (excluding the administration of the Insecticides Act, 1968).
* Molasses
* Alcohol - industrial and potable from the molasses route.
* Dye-stuffs and dye-intermediates.
* All organic and inorganic chemicals, not specifically allotted to any other Ministry or Department.
* Planning, development and control of, and assistance to, all industries dealt with by the Department.
* Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster-Special Laws relating thereto. Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster-Special Laws relating thereto.
* Petro-chemicals.
* Industries relating to production of non-cellulosic synthetic fibres (Nylon Polyester, Acrylic etc.).
* Synthetic rubber.
* Plastics including fabrications of plastic and moulded goods.
Department of Fertilizers
* It is to ensure adequate and timely availability of fertilizers at affordable prices for maximizing agricultural production in the country.
* The main activities of this Department in relation to the fertilizer industry are overall sectoral planning and development and regulation of the industry, as well as monitoring of production pricing and distribution of the output.
Department of Pharmaceuticals
The Ministry has been given the following mandate for catalyzing the growth of the pharma industry in the country -
* Drugs and Pharmaceuticals sector development
* Promotion and co-ordination of basic, applied and other research in areas related to the Pharmaceuticals sector.
* Development of infrastructure, manpower and skills for the Pharmaceuticals sector and management of related information.
* Education and training including high end research and grant of fellowships in India and abroad, exchange of information and technical guidance on all matters relating to
pharmaceutical sector.
* Promotion of public - private - partnership in pharmaceutical related areas.
* International cooperation in pharmaceutical research, including work related to international conferences in related areas in India and abroad.
* Technical support for dealing with national hazards in pharmaceutical sector.
* All matters relating to National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority including related functions of price control/monitoring.
* All matters relating to National Institutes for Pharmacy Education and Research.
* Supporting growth of Central Pharma Public Sector Undertakings - BCPL,HAL,IDPL, KAPL and RDPL
Ministry of Civil Aviation
* It is responsible for formulation of national policies and programmes for the development and regulation of the Civil Aviation sector in the country.
* It is responsible for the administration of the Aircraft Act, 1934, Aircraft Rules, 1937 and various other legislations pertaining to the aviation sector in the country.
Ministry of Coal
* Exploration and development of coking coal and non-coking coal and lignite deposits in India.
* All matters relating to production, supply, distribution and prices of coal.
* Development and operation of coal washeries other than those for which Department of Steel (ISPAT Vibhag) is responsible.
* Low Temperature carbonization of coal and production of synthetic oil from coal.
* Administration of the Coal Mines (Conservation and Development) Act, 1974, Coal Mines Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1948, Coal Mines Labour Welfare Fund Act, 1947 and the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957
* The Coal Mines Provident Fund Organization.
* The Coal Mines Welfare Organization.
* Rules under the Mines Act, 1952 for the levy and collection of duty of excise on coke and coal produced and dispatched from mines and administration of rescue fund.
Ministry of Commerce and Industry
It administers two departments,
* Department of Commerce and
* Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion.
Department of Commerce
* The mandate of the Department of Commerce is regulation, development and promotion of Indias international trade and commerce through formulation of appropriate international trade & commercial policy and implementation of the various provisions thereof.
* The basic role of the Department is to facilitate the creation of an enabling environment and infrastructure for accelerated growth of international trade.
* The Department formulates, implements and monitors the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) which provides the basic framework of policy and strategy to be followed for promoting exports and trade.
* The Trade Policy is periodically reviewed to incorporate changes necessary to take care of emerging economic scenarios both in the domestic and international economy.
* The Department is also entrusted with responsibilities relating to multilateral and bilateral commercial relations, Special Economic Zones, state trading, export promotion and trade facilitation, and development and regulation of certain export oriented industries and commodities.
Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion
* Formulation and implementation of industrial policy and strategies for industrial development in conformity with the development needs and national objectives.
* Monitoring the industrial growth, in general, and performance of industries specifically assigned to it, in particular, including advice on all industrial and technical matters.
* Formulation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy and promotion, approval and facilitation of FDI.
* Encouragement to foreign technology collaborations at enterprise level and formulating policy parameters for the same.
* Formulation of policies relating to Intellectual Property Rights in the fields of Patents, Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications of Goods and administration of regulations, rules made there under.
* Administration of Industries (Development & Regulation) Act, 1951
* Promoting industrial development of industrially backward areas and the North Eastern Region including International Co-operation for industrial partnerships and
* Promotion of productivity, quality and technical cooperation.
Ministry of Communication and Information Technology
It contains three departments:
* Department of Electronics and Information Technology
* Department of Telecommunications
* Department of Posts
Department of Electronics and Information Technology
* Policy matters relating to information technology; Electronics; and Internet (all matters other than licensing of Internet Service Provider).
* Promotion of internet, IT and IT enabled services.
* Assistance to other departments in the promotion of EGovernance, ECommerce, EMedicine, EInfrastructure, etc.
* Promotion of Information Technology education and Information Technologybased education.
* Matters relating to Cyber Laws, administration of the Information Technology Act.2000 and other IT related laws.
* Matters relating to promotion and manufacturing of Semiconductor Devices in the country excluding all matters relating to Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL), Mohali; The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits layout Design Act,2000.
* Interaction in IT related matters with international agencies and bodies e.g. Internet for Business Limited (IFB), Institute for Education in Information Society (IBI) and International Code Council on line (ICC).
* Initiative on bridging the Digital Divide: Matters relating to Media Lab Asia.
* Promotion of Standardization, Testing and Quality in IT and standardization of procedure for IT application and Tasks.
* Electronics Export and Computer Software Promotion Council (ESC).
* National Informatics Centre (NIC).
* Initiatives for development of Hardware/Software industry including knowledgebased enterprises, measures for promoting IT exports and competitiveness of the industry.
* All matters relating to personnel under the control of the Department.
Department of Telecommunications
* Policy, Licensing and Coordination matters relating to telegraphs, telephones, wireless, data, facsimile and telematic services and other like forms of communications.
* International cooperation in matters connected with telecommunications including matters relating to all international bodies dealing with telecommunications such as International Telecommunication Union (ITU), its Radio Regulation Board (RRB), Radio Communication Sector (ITU-R), Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), Development Sector (ITU-D), International Telecommunication Satellite Organization (INTELSAT), International Mobile Satellite Organization (INMARSAT), Asia Pacific Telecommunication (APT).
* Promotion of standardization, research and development in telecommunications.
* Promotion of private investment in Telecommunications.
* Financial assistance for the furtherance of research and study in telecommunications technology and for building up adequately trained manpower for telecom programme, including-
* assistance to institutions, assistance to scientific institutions and to universities for advanced scientific study and research; and
* grant of scholarships to students in educational institutions and other forms of financial aid to individuals including those going abroad for studies in the field of telecommunications.
* Procurement of stores and equipment required by the Department of Telecommunications
* Telecom Commission.
* Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
* Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal.
* Administration of laws with respect to any of the matters specified in this list, namely:-
* The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885
* The Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 and
* The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997
* Indian Telephone Industries Limited.
* Post disinvestment matters relating to M/s Hindustan Teleprinters Limited.
* Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited.
* Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited
* Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited and Telecommunications Consultants (India) Limited.
* All matters relating to Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT).
* Residual work relating to the erstwhile Department of Telecom Services and Department of Telecom Operations, including matters relating to-
* cadre control functions of Group (A) and other categories of personnel till their absorption in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited;
* administration and payment of terminal benefits.
* Execution of works, purchase and acquisition of land debitable to the capital Budget pertaining to telecommunications.
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
The ministry is divided into two departments,
* Department of Food and Public Distribution
* Department of Consumer Affairs
Department of Food and Public Distribution
* To ensure food security for the country through timely and efficient procurement and distribution of food grains.
* This involves procurement of various food grains, building up and maintenance of food stocks, their storage, movement and delivery to the distributing agencies and monitoring of production, stock and price levels of food grains.
* The focus is on incentivizing farmers through fair value of their produce by way of Minimum Support Price mechanism, distribution of food grains to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and covering poor households at the risk of hunger under Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY), establishing grain banks in food scarce areas and involvement ofPanchayati Raj Institutions in Public Distribution System (PDS).
* It is responsible forformulation of policies concerning the sugar sector suchas fixing of Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane payable by Sugar factories, development andregulation of sugar industry (including training in sugar technology), fixation of levy price of sugar and its supply for PDS and regulation of supply of free sale sugar.
* It formulates policies on export and import of food grains, sugar and edible oils.
Department of Consumer affairs
It administers the policies for Consumer Cooperatives, Monitoring Prices, availability of essential commodities, Consumer Movement in the country and Controlling of statutory bodies likeBureau of Indian Standards(BIS) and Weights and Measures.
The department is responsible for following:
* Standards of Weights and Measures
* TheBureau of Indian Standards
* Consumer Cooperatives
* Forward Markets Commission, Mumbai.
* Monitoring of Prices and Availability of essential commodities
* TheConsumer Protection Act, 1986
* Consumer Welfare Fund
* Internal Trade
* Inter-State Trade: The Spirituous Preparations (Inter-State Trade and Commerce) Control Act, 1955.
* Control of Futures Trading: the Forward Contracts (Regulations) Act, 1952.
Ministry of Corporate affairs
It is responsible mainly forregulationof Indian enterprises in Industrial and Services sector.
The ministry administers the following acts:
* TheCompanies Act 1956(basic law governing the creation, existence, and dissolution of companies, and the relationships between theshareholders, the company, the public, and the government.
* The Competition Act 2002
* The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1969
* The Chartered Accountants Act 1949 [As amended by the Chartered Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006]
* The Company Secretaries Act 1980 [As amended by The Company Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 2006]
* Cost and Works Accountants Act 1959 [As Amended By The Cost And Works Accountants (Amendment) Act, 2006]
* Companies (Donation to National) Fund Act 1951
* Partnership Act 1932
* Societies Registration Act 1860
* The Companies Amendment Act, 2006
Ministry of Culture
The mission of the department is to preserve, promote and disseminate all forms of art and culture.
In order to achieve this, the department undertakes the following activities:
* Maintenance and conservation of heritage, historic sites and ancient monuments
* Administration of libraries
* Promotion of literary, visual and performing arts
* Observation of centenaries and anniversaries of important national personalities and events
* Promotion of institutions and organizations of Buddhist and Tibetan studies
* Promotion of institutional and individual non-official initiatives in the fields of art and culture
* Entering into cultural agreements with foreign countries.
* The functional spectrum of the Department ranges from creating cultural awareness from the grass root level to the international cultural exchange level.
Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
* Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources(NLCPR)
* North Eastern Council (NEC)
* Coordination with the Central Ministries and the State Govts. of the NE states.
* Capacity Building
* Advocacy and Publicity
* International Cooperation
* Enterprises of the Department
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
* Planning, implementation and monitoring of centrally sponsored programmes and schemes for safe drinking water and sanitation in rural areas;
* Support R&D initiatives, IEC and HRD activities for all stakeholders in drinking water and sanitation sector;
* Building partnerships and synergizing efforts with other sector partners, organizations, UN and bilateral agencies, NGOs, R&D institutions and civil society.
* Assist States in resource mobilization from multilateral and bilateral agencies through Government of India;
* Technical support to States through seminars, interactions, documentation of best practices and innovations;
* Provide inputs to other Departments/ Ministries for formulation of policies impacting water and sanitation issues;
* Recognizing and awarding panchayats and organizations for excellent work in rural sanitation.
Ministry of Earth sciences
The Ministrys mandate is to look after Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean Science & Technology and Seismology in an integrated manner.
India Meteorological Department
* To take meteorological observations and to provide current and forecast meteorological information for optimum operation of weather-sensitive activities like agriculture, irrigation, shipping, aviation, offshore oil explorations, etc.
* To warn against severe weather phenomena like tropical cyclones, norwesters, duststorms, heavy rains and snow, cold and heat waves, etc., which cause destruction of life and property.
* To provide meteorological statistics required for agriculture, water resource management, industries, oil exploration and other nation-building activities.
* To conduct and promote research in meteorology and allied disciplines.
* To detect and locate earthquakes and to evaluate seismicity in different parts of the country for development projects.
Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF)
* It is the nodal agency in the administrative structure of the Central Government for the planning, promotion, co-ordination and overseeing the implementation of India's environmental and forestry policies and programmes.
* The primary concerns of the Ministry are implementation of policies and programmes relating to conservation of the country's natural resources including its lakes and rivers, its biodiversity, forests and wildlife, ensuring the welfare of animals, and the prevention and abatement of pollution.
* While implementing these policies and programmes, the Ministry is guided by the principle of sustainable development and enhancement of human well-being.
Objectives
* Conservation and survey of flora, fauna, forests and wildlife
* Prevention and control of pollution
* Afforestation and regeneration of degraded areas
* Protection of the environment and
* Ensuring the welfare of animals
Ministry of External affairs
* The key role of the Ministry is to manage the external relations of India with other countries.
* It has been executing the foreign policy of India by closely integrating it with the countrys fundamental security and developmental priorities.
* In this process, the Ministry has been building and consolidating Indias political, economic, trade, commercial, cultural and consular relations with the other nations.
* These objectives are attained through bilateral, regional and international consultations both at Headquarters and through the 176 Missions/Posts abroad.
* The Ministry has also set up specialised offices across the world, and regional passport and branch offices in India.
* The Ministry is also responsible for the work of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Indian Council of World Affairs.
Ministry of Finance
It concerns itself with
* taxation,
* financial legislation,
* financial institutions,
* capital markets,
* centreandstatefinances, and
* theUnion Budget.
The Union Finance Ministry of India comprises five departments.
* Department of Disinvestment
* Department of Economic Affairs
* Department of Expenditure
* Department of Financial Services
* Department of Revenue
Department of Disinvestment
* All matters relating to disinvestment of Central Government equity from Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).
* All matters relating to sale of Central Government equity through offer for sale or private placement in the erstwhile CPSEs
* Decisions on the recommendations of the Disinvestment Commission on the modalities of Disinvestment, including restructuring.
* Implementation of disinvestment decisions, including appointment of advisers, pricing of shares, and other terms and conditions of disinvestment.
* Disinvestment Commission.
* CPSEs for purposes of disinvestment of Government equity only.
* Financial Policy in regard to the utilization of the proceeds of disinvestment channelized into the National Investment Fund (inserted through amendment dated 12 January 2006 to the Allocation of Business rules)
Department of Economic Affairs
It is the nodal agency of the Union Government to formulate and monitor country's economic policies and programmes having a bearing on domestic and international aspects of economic management.
A principal responsibility of this Department is the preparation of the Union Budget annually (excluding theRailway Budget).
Other main functions include:
* Formulation and monitoring of macroeconomic policies, including issues relating to fiscal policy and public finance, inflation, public debt management and the functioning of Capital Market including Stock Exchanges. In this context, it looks at ways and means to raise internal resources through taxation, market borrowings and mobilisation of small savings;
* Monitoring and raising of external resources through multilateral and bilateral Official Development Assistance, sovereign borrowings abroad, foreign investments and monitoring foreign exchange resources including balance of payments;
* Production of bank notes and coins of various denominations, postal stationery, postal stamps; and Cadre management, career planning and training of the Indian Economic Service (IES).
Department of Expenditure
It is the nodal Department for overseeing the public financial management system in the Central Government and matters connected with State finances.
The principal activities of the Department include:
* pre-sanction appraisal of major schemes/projects (both Plan and non-Plan expenditure),
* handling the bulk of the Central budgetary resources transferred to States,
* implementation of the recommendations of the Finance and Central Pay Commissions,
* overseeing the expenditure management in the Central Ministries/Departments through the interface with the Financial Advisors and the administration of the Financial Rules / Regulations / Orders through monitoring of Audit comments/observations,
* preparation of Central Government Accounts, managing the financial aspects of personnel management in the Central Government,
* assisting Central Ministries/Departments in controlling the costs and prices of public services,
* Assisting organizational re-engineering through review of staffing patterns and O&M studies and reviewing systems and procedures to optimize outputs and outcomes of public expenditure.
Department of Financial Services
It covers Banks, Insurance and Financial Services provided by various government agencies and private corporations. It also covers pension reforms and Industrial Finance and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise.
Department of Revenue
It is mainly responsible for the following functions: -
* All matters relating to levy and collection of Direct Taxes.
* All matters relating to levy and collection of Indirect Taxes.
* nvestigation into economic offences and enforcement of economic laws.
* Prevention and combating abuse of Narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and illicit traffic therein.
* Enforcement of FEMA and recommendation of detention under COFEPOSA.
* Work relating to forfeiture of property under Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act, 1976 and Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
* Levy of taxes on sales in the course of inter-state trade or commerce.
* Matters relating to consolidation/reduction/exemption from payment of Stamp duty under Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
* Residual work of Gold Control
* Matters relating to CESTAT.
* Cadre Control of IRS (Group-A) and IRS (C&CE) (Group-A).
Ministry of Food Processing Industries
* Better utilization and value addition of agricultural produce for enhancement of income of farmers;
* Minimizing wastage at all stages in the food processing chain by the development of infrastructure for storage, transportation and processing of agro-food produce;
* Induction of modern technology into the food processing industries from both domestic and external sources;
* Encourage R&D in food processing for product and process development and improved packaging;
* Provide policy support,and support for creation of Infrastructure, capacity expansion/ Upgradation and other supportive measures form the growth of this sectors;
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
It comprises the following departments, each of which is headed by a secretary to the government of India:-
* Department of Health & Family Welfare
* Department of AYUSH
* Department of Health Research
* Department of AIDS Control
Department of Health & Family Welfare
It is responsible for aspects relating tofamilywelfare, especially in
* reproductive health,
* maternal health,
* paediatrics ,
* information,
* education and communications,
* cooperation withNGOsandinternational aidgroups,
* rural health services.
Department of AYUSH
* To upgrade the educational standards in the Indian Systems of Medicines and Homoeopathy colleges in the country.
* To strengthen existing research institutions and ensure a time-bound research programme on identified diseases for which these systems have an effective treatment.
* To draw up schemes for promotion, cultivation and regeneration of medicinal plants used in these systems.
* To evolve Pharmacopoeial standards for Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy drugs.
Department of Health Research
* Promotion and co-ordination of basic, applied and clinical research including clinical trials and operational research in areas related to medical, health, biomedical and medical profession and education through development of infrastructure, manpower and skills in cutting edge areas and management of related information thereto.
* Promote and provide guidance on research governance issues, including ethical issues in medical and health research.
* Inter-sectoral coordination and promotion of public-private partnership in medical, bio-medical and health research related areas.
* Advanced training in research areas concerning medicine and health including grant of fellowships for such training inIndiaand abroad.
* International cooperation in medical and health research including work related to international conferences in related areas inIndiaand abroad.
* Technical support for dealing with epidemics and natural calamities.
* Investigation of outbreaks due to new and exotic agents and development of tools for prevention.
* Matters relating to scientific societies and associations, charitable and religious endowments in medicine and health research areas.
* Coordination between organisations and institutes under the Central and State Governments in areas related to the subjects entrusted to the Department and for the promotion of special studies in medicine and health.
* Indian Council of Medical Research.
Department of AIDS Control
* Building an integrated response by reaching out to diverse populations.
* A National AIDS Control Programme that is firmly rooted in evidence-based planning.
* Achievement of developmentobjective
* Regular dissemination of transparentestimates on the spread and prevalence of HIV/AIDS
* Building an India where every person is safe from HIV/AIDS
* Buildingpartnerships
* An India where every person has accurateknowledge about HIV and contributes towards eradicating stigma and discrimination
* An India where every pregnant woman living with HIV has the choice to bring an HIV free baby into the world
* An India where every person has access to Integrated Counselling &Testing Centres (ICTCs)
* An India where every person living with HIV is treated with dignity and has accesstoqualitycare
* An India where every person will eventually live a healthy and safe life, supported by technologicaladvances
* An India where every person who is highly vulnerable to HIV is heardandreachedoutto
Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
It comprises the following departments :
* Department of Heavy Industries
* Department of Public Enterprises
Department of Heavy Industry
* It strives to bolster profit making Public Sector Enterprises as well as restructure and revive sick and loss making Public Sector Enterprises under its administrative control.
* It seeks to achieve its vision of global automotive excellence through creation of state-of-the-art Research and Testing infrastructure through the National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRIP).
* It seeks to achieve its vision by providing necessary support to the Auto, Heavy Engineering, Heavy Electricals and Capital Goods Sector.
Department of Public Enterprises
* Itadministers 48 CentralPublic Sector Enterprises(PSEs) and assists them in their effort to improve capacity utilisation & increase profitability, Generate resources and Re-orient strategies to become more competitive.
* The department serves as an interface between PSEs and other agencies for long term policy formulation.
* The department also encourages restructuring of PSEs to make their operations competitive and viable on a long term and sustainable basis.
Ministry of Home affairs
* It is mainly responsible for the maintenance ofinternal securityanddomestic policy.
* It extends manpower and financial support, guidance and expertise to the State Governments for the maintenance of security, peace and harmony without trampling upon the constitutional rights of the States
It has the following constituent Departments:
* Central Armed Police Forces
* Central Police Organisation
* Department of Border Management
It deals with management of borders, including coastal borders.
* Department of Home
It deals with the notification of assumption of office by thePresidentandVice President, notification of appointment of thePrime Ministerand other Ministers, etc
* Department of Internal Security
It deals withpolice,law and orderandrehabilitation.
* Department of Jammu & Kashmir (J & K) Affairs
It deals with the constitutional provisions in respect of the State of Jammu & Kashmir and all other matters relating to the State excluding those with which theMinistry of External Affairsis concerned
* Department of Official Language
It deals with the implementation of the provisions of the Constitution relating to official languages and the provisions of the Official Languages Act, 1963.
* Department of States
It deals with Centre-State relations, Inter-State relations,Union Territoriesand Freedom Fighters' pension.
Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
It is the apex authority of Government of India at the national level to formulate policies, sponsor and support programme, coordinate the activities of various Central Ministries, State Governments and other nodal authorities and monitor the programmes concerning all the issues of urban employment, povertyand housing in the country.
Ministry of Human Resource Development
The main objectives of the Ministry would be:
* Formulating the National Policy on Education and to ensure that it is implemented in letter and spirit
* Planned development, including expanding access and improving quality of the educational institutions throughout the country, including in the regions where people do not have easy access to education.
* Paying special attention to disadvantaged groups like the poor, females and the minorities
* Provide financial help in the form of scholarships, loan subsidy, etc to deserving students from deprived sections of the society.
* Encouraging international cooperation in the field of education, including working closely with the UNESCO and foreign governments as well as Universities, to enhance the educational opportunities in the country.
Currently, the MHRD works through two departments:
* Department of School Education & Literacy
It is responsible for development of school education and literacy in the country. It works on universalisation of education and for making better citizens out of youth.
* Department of Higher Education
* It is in charge of secondary and post-secondary education.
* It is empowered to grantdeemed universitystatus to educational institutions on the advice of theUniversity Grants Commission(UGC) of India.
* It takes care of one of the largest higher education systems of the world, just after the United States and China.
* It is engaged in bringing world-class opportunities of higher education and research to the country so that Indian students are not found lacking when facing an international platform.
Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
* News Services throughAll India Radio(AIR) andDoordarshan (DD) for the people
* Development of broadcasting and television.
* Import and export of films.
* Development and promotion of film industry.
* Organisation of film festivals and cultural exchanges for the purpose.
* Directorate of Advertising and visual publicityDAVP
* Handling of press relations to present the policies of Government of India and to get feed-back on the Government policies.
* Administration of the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 in respect of newspapers.
* Dissemination of information about India within and outside the country through publications on matters of national importance.
* Research, Reference and Training to assist the media units of the Ministry to meet their responsibilities.
* Use of interpersonal communication and traditional folk art forms for information/ publicity campaigns on public interest issues.
* International co-operation in the field of information & mass media.
Ministry of Labour and Employment
* The main responsibility of the Ministry is to protect and safeguard the interests of workers in general and those who constitute the poor, deprived and disadvantage sections of the society, in particular, with due regard to creating a healthy work environment for higher production and productivity and to develop and coordinate vocational skill training and employment services.
* Governments attention is also focused on promotion of welfare and providing social security to the labour force both in organized and unorganized sectors, in tandem with the process of liberalization.
* These objectives are sought to be achieved through enactment and implementation of various labour laws, which regulate the terms and conditions of service and employment of workers.
* The State Governments are also competent to enact legislations, as labour is a subject in the concurrent list under the Constitution of India.
Ministry of Law and Justice
It is vested with the responsibility of
* administration of legal affairs
* justice
* legislative affairs inIndia.
The Ministry comprises the following departments
* Department of Legal Affairs,
* Legislative Department, and
* Department of Justice.
Department of Legal Affairs
* Advice to Ministries on legal matters including interpretation of the Constitution and the laws,conveyancingand engagement of counsel to appear on behalf of the Union of India in the High Courts and subordinate courts where the Union of India is a party.
* Attorney General of India, Solicitor General of India, and other Central Government law officers of the States whose services are shared by the Ministries of the Government of India.
* Conduct of cases in the Supreme Court and the HighCourtson behalf of the Central Government and on behalf of the Governments of States participating in the Central Agency Scheme.
* Reciprocal arrangements with foreign countries for the service of summons in civil suits for the execution of decrees of Civil Courts, for the enforcement of maintenance orders, and for the administration of the estates of foreigners dying in India.
* Authorization of officers to execute contracts and assurances of property on behalf of the President under Article 299(1) of the Constitution, and authorization of officers to sign and verify plaints or written statements in suits by or against the Central Government.
* Indian Legal Service.
* Treaties and agreements with foreign countries in matters of civil law.
* Law Commission.
* Legal Profession including the Advocates Act, 1961 and persons entitled to practice before High Courts.
* Enlargement of the jurisdiction of Supreme Court and the conferring thereon of further powers; persons entitled to practice before the supreme Court, references to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution of India.
* Administration of the Notaries Act, 1952
* Income-tax Appellate Tribunal.
* Appellate Tribunal for Foreign Exchange
* Legal aid to the Poor.
Legislative Department
* The drafting of Bills, including the business of the Draftsmen in Select Committees, drafting and promulgation of Ordinances and Regulations; enactment of State Acts as President's Acts whenever required; scrutiny of Statutory Rules and Orders (except notifications under clause (a) of section 3, section 3A and section 3D, of the National Highways Act, 1956 C
* Constitution Orders; notifications for bringing into force Constitution (Amendment) Acts.
* (a) Publication of Central Acts, Ordinance and Regulations; (b) Publication of authorised translations in Hindi of Central Acts, Ordinances, Orders, Rules, Regulations and bye-laws referred to in section 5(1) of the Official Languages Act, 1963
* Compilation and publication of unrepealed Central Acts, Ordinances and Regulations of general statutory Rules and Orders, and other similar publications.
* Elections to Parliament, to the Legislatures of States, to the Offices of the President and Vice-President; and the Election Commission.
* Preparation and publication of standard legal terminology for use, as far as possible, in all official languages.
* Preparation of authoritative texts in Hindi of all Central Acts and of Ordinances promulgated and Regulations made by the President and of all rules, regulations and orders made by the Central Government under such Acts, Ordinances and Regulations.
* Making arrangements for the translation into official languages of the States of Central Acts and of Ordinances promulgated and Regulations made by the President and for the translation of all State Acts and Ordinances into Hindi if the texts of such Acts or Ordinance are in a language other than Hindi.
* Publication of law books and law journals in Hindi.
* Marriage and divorce; infants and minors; adoption, wills; intestate and succession; joint family and partition.
* Transfer of property other than agricultural land (excluding benami transactions registration of deeds and documents).
* Contracts, but not including those relating to agricultural land.
* Actionable wrongs.
* Bankruptcy and insolvency.
* Trusts and trustees, Administrators, General and Official Trustees.
* Evidence and oaths.
* Civil Procedure including Limitation and Arbitration.
* Charitable and religious endowments and religious institutions.
Department of Justice
* Appointment, resignation and removal of the Chief Justice of India and Judges of the Supreme Court of India; their salaries, rights in respect of leave of absence (including leave allowances), pensions and travelling allowances.
* Appointment, resignation and removal, etc., of Chief Justice and Judges of High Courts in States; their salaries, rights in respect of leave of absence (including leave allowances), pensions and travelling allowances.
* Appointment of Judicial Commissioners and Judicial officers in Union Territories.
* Constitution and organisation (excluding jurisdiction and powers) of the Supreme Court (but including contempt of such Court) and the fees taken therein.
* Constitution and organisation of the High Courts and the Courts of Judicial Commissioners except provisions as to officers and servants of these courts.
* Administration of justice and constitution and organisation of courts in the Union Territories and fees taken in such courts.
* Court fees and Stamp duties in the Union Territories.
* Creation of all India Judicial Service.
* Conditions of service of District Judges and other Members of Higher Judicial Service of Union Territories.
* Extension of the Jurisdiction of a High Court to a Union Territory or exclusion of a Union Territory from the Jurisdiction of a High Court.
Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
It is the apex body for the formulation and administration of rules, regulations and laws relating to micro, small and medium enterprises inIndia.
Ministry of Mines
* It is responsible for survey and exploration of all minerals, (other than natural gas and petroleum) for mining and metallurgy of non-ferrous metals like aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, gold, nickel etc. And
* Administration of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) in respect of all mines and minerals other than coal and lignite.
Ministry of Minority Affairs
* It is the apex body for the central government's regulatory and developmental programmes for the minority communities inIndia, which includeMuslims,Sikhs,Christians,BuddhistsandZoroastrians(Parsis) notified as minority communities under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
* Empowering the minority communities and creating an enabling environment for strengthening the multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious character of our nation.
* To improve the socio-economic conditions of the minority communities through affirmative action and inclusive development so that every citizen has equal opportunity to participate actively in building a vibrant nation. To facilitate an equitable share for minority communities in education, employment, economic activities and to ensure their upliftment.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
The major functional area:
* Commission for Additional Sources of Energy (CASE);
* Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA);
* Integrated Rural Energy Programme (IREP);
* Research and development of Biogas and programmes relating toBiogasunits;
* Solar Energyincluding Solar Photovoltaic devices and their development, production and applications;
* Programme relating to improved chulhas and research and development thereof;
* All matters relating to small/mini/micro hydel projects of and below 25 MW capacities;
* Research and development of other non-conventional/renewable sources of energy and programmes relating thereto;
* Tidal energy;
* Geothermal Energy;
* Biofuel: (i) National Policy; (ii) research, development and demonstration on transport, stationary and other applications; (iii) setting up of a National Bio-fuels Development Board and strengthening the existing institutional mechanism; and (iv) overall coordination.
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA)
* Developing an inclusive agenda for the Diaspora to benefit from India's development.
* Seeding the idea of Indian Diaspora networks and drawing up a road map for establishing them.
* Making the home and Diaspora institutions active stakeholder partners in the networks.
* Developing templates for individual initiatives and community action to leverage the knowledge and other resources of the Diaspora.
* Drawing a road map for meaningful engagement of the Diaspora in our development efforts round the year and across the globe.
* Developing templates for ongoing dialogue between India and its Diaspora at the National and state levels.
* Partnering with the Diaspora in new initiatives in the economic, social and cultural space.
* Developing capacity building programs in the states to respond better to the needs of the Diaspora as well as potential emigrants.
In implementing this agenda aimed at promoting and nurturing a mutually beneficial and organic relationship between India and Overseas Indians, MOIA is guided by four key principles:
* Offer customized solutions to meet the varied expectations of the Overseas Indian community
* Lend a strategic dimension to India's engagement with the Diaspora
* Tap the investible diasporic community in terms of knowledge and resources
* Anchor all diasporic initiatives in the States
Ministry of Panchayati Raj
Functions
* The State governments/Union Territory Administrations, at present, are at varying degrees of the implementation of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts.
* Ministry would ensure that they hold timely elections, set up State Finance Commissions and implement their recommendations, constitute District Planning Committees and empower them suitably to ensure grass-root level planning to feed into State and Central level Planning effectively.
* One major task of the Ministry will be to ensure that the State Governments/UT Administrations devolve funds, functions and functionaries on the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the spirit of the Constitutional provisions.
* It is responsible for formulation and implementation of an Action Plan for seeing PRIs to emerge as "Institutions of Local-Self Government" securing economic development and social justice in their respective areas.
* Empowerment of Gram Sabhas by holding regular Meetings and social audit through Gram Sabhas so as to enable them to emerge as foundation of Panchayati Raj will be pursued vigorously with States/UT Administrations.
* Depending upon the local situation, States/UT Administrations will be encouraged to institute Ward Sabhas and Mahila Sabhas and make them functional.
* The Ministry attaches great importance to the capacity building of elected representatives and officials of PRIs as well as functionaries involved in the Rural Development Programmes.
* The Ministry will also be funding research studies, workshops and seminars for development of Panchayats.
* The Ministry will implement the scheme of "National Awards for Best Panchayats" to encourage PR Institutions in discharging their role of "Institutions of Self-government" to be able to enforce economic development and social justice at the local level.
Ministry of parliamentary affairs
* Dates of summoning and prorogation of the two Houses of Parliament: Dissolution of Lok Sabha, Presidents Address to Parliament.
* Planning and Coordination of legislative and other official business in both Houses.
* Allocation of Government time in Parliament for discussion of motions given notice of by Members.
* Liaison with Leaders and Whips of various Parties and Groups represented in Parliament.
* Lists of Members of Select and Joint Committees on Bills.
* Appointment of Members of Parliament on Committees and other bodies set up by Government.
* Functioning of Consultative Committees of Members of Parliament for various Ministries.
* Implementation of assurances given by Ministers in Parliament.
* Governments stand on Private Members Bills and Resolutions.
* Secretarial assistance to the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
* Advice to Ministries on procedural and other Parliamentary matters.
* Coordination of action by Ministries on recommendations of general application made by Parliamentary Committees.
* Officially sponsored visits of Members of Parliament to places of interest.
* Matters connected with powers, privileges and immunities of Members of Parliament.
* Parliamentary Secretaries - functions.
* Organisation of Youth Parliament Competitions in Schools/Colleges throughout the country.
* Organisation of All India Whips Conference.
* Exchange of Government Sponsored Delegations of Members of Parliament with other countries.
* Determination of Policy and follow up action in regard to matters raised under rule 377 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha and by way of Special Mentions in Rajya Sabha.
* Manual for Handling Parliamentary work in Ministries/Departments.
* The Salaries and Allowances of Officers of Parliament Act, 1953
* The Salary, Allowances and Pensions of Members of Parliament Act, 1954
* The Salary, and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977
* The Leader and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups inParliament (Facilities) Act, 1998
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions
It is responsible for
* recruitment,
* career development,
* training,
* staff welfare and
* post employment dispensation.
The Ministry comprises three Departments:
* Department of Personnel and Training
* Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare
* Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances
Department of Personnel and Training
* DOPT is concerned with the formulation of policy and the watchdog of the Government ensuring that certain accepted standards and norms, as laid down by it, are followed by all Ministries/Departments in the recruitment, regulation of service conditions and posting transfers and deputation of personnel as well as other related issues.
* It controls the cadres of theIndian Administrative Service(IAS) and theCentral Secretariat Service(CSS).
* DOPT is also responsible for the appointment of Chairman, Managing Director, full-time functional Director/ Member of the Board of Management of various public sector undertakings/enterprises, corporations, banks and financial institutions.
* It also deals with the assignment of Indian experts to various developing countries.
Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare
* The department is mainly concerned with the formulation of policies regarding the post retirement benefits of Central Govt. employees covered under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972.
* It also acts as a forum for the redressal for Pensioners' grievances.
* However, the pensioners of Ministries of Railways and Defence are governed by their respective pension rules.
Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances
* Improvements in Government structures and processes
* Citizen-friendly initiatives including redressal of public grievances
* Documentation, incubation and dissemination of best practices
* Codification and simplification of procedures and
* Networking with various agencies
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
* Exploration and exploitation of petroleum resources, including natural gas.
* Production, supply distribution, marketing and pricing of petroleum including natural gas and petroleum products.
* Oil refineries, including Lube plants.
* Additives for petroleum and petroleum products.
* Lube blending and greases.
* Planning, development and control of, and assistance to all industries dealt with by the Ministry.
* All attached or subordinate offices or other organisations concerned with any of the subject specified in this list.
* Planning, development and regulation of oilfield services.
* Public sector projects failing under the subjects included in this list,
* Engineers India limited and IBP Company. together with its subsidiaries, except such projects as are specifically allotted to any other Ministry/Dept,
* Administration of various Central laws relating to Petroleum and Natural Gas
Ministry of Power
* General Policy in the electric power sector and issues relating to energy policy and coordination thereof.
* All matters relating to hydro-electric power (except small/mini/micro hydel projects of and below 25 MW capacity) and thermal power and transmission & distribution system network;
* Research, development and technical assistance relating to hydro-electric and thermal power, transmission system network and distribution systems in the States/UTs;
* Administration of the Electricity Act, 2003, the Energy Conservation Act , 2001, the Damodar Valley Corporation Act,1948 and Bhakra Beas Management Board as provided in the Punjab Reorganisation Act,1966
* All matters relating to Central Electricity Authority, Central Electricity Board and Central Electricity Regulatory Commission;
1. Rural Electrification;
2. Power schemes and issues relating to power supply/development schemes/ programmes/decentralized and distributed generation in the States and Union Territories;
* All matters concerning energy conservation and energy efficiency pertaining to Power Sector.
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
An apex organisation under the Central Government, is entrusted with the task of formulating and administering, in consultation with other Central Ministries/Departments, State Governments/UT Administrations, organisations and individuals, policies for Road Transport, National Highways and Transport Research with a view to increasing the mobility and efficiency of the road transport system in the country.
Ministry has two wings:
* Roads wing and
* Transport wing.
ROADS WINGMain Responsibilities:
* Planning, development and maintenance of National Highways in the country.
* Extends technical and financial support to State Governments for the development of state roads and the roads of inter-state connectivity and economic importance
* Evolves standard specifications for roads and bridges in the country.
* Serves as a repository of technical knowledge on roads and bridges.
TRANSPORT WING
Main Responsibilities:
* Motor Vehicle legislation.
* Administration of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
* Taxation of motor vehicles.
* Compulsory insurance of motor vehicles.
* Administration of the Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950.
* And promotion of Transport co-operatives in the field of motor transport.
* Evolves road safety standards in the form of a National Policy on Road Safety and by preparing and implementing the Annual Road Safety Plan.
* Collects, compiles and analyses road accident statistics and takes steps for developing a Road Safety Culture in the country by involving the members of public and organising various awareness campaigns.
* Provides grants-in-aid to Non-Governmental Organisations in accordance with the laid down guidelines.
Ministry of Rural Development
It has two departments namely
* Department of Rural Developmentand
* Department of Land Resource.
Department of Rural Development
* Public cooperation, including all matters relating to voluntary agencies for rural development, Council of Advancement of People's Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) and National Fund for Rural Development, other than aspects which fall within the purview of Department of Drinking Water Supply.
* Cooperatives relatable to the items in this list.
* Road works financed in whole or in part by the Central Government in tribal areas of Assam specified in Part I and Part II of the Table appended to paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution.
* All matters relating to cooperation with the Centre for Integrated Rural Development for Asia and Pacific (CIRDAP) and the Afro-Asian Rural Reconstruction Organisation (AARRO).
1. All matters pertaining to rural employment or unemployment such as working out of strategies and programmes for rural employment including special works, wage or income generation and training related thereto.
2. Implementation of the specific programmes of rural employment evolved from time to time.
3. Micro level planning related to rural employment or unemployment and administrative infrastructure therefore.
* Integrated rural development including small farmers development agency, marginal farmers and agricultural labourers, etc.
* Rural housing including Rural Housing Policy and all matters germane and incidental thereto under country or rural planning, in so far as it relates to rural areas.
* All matters relating to rural connectivity including the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana.
Department of Land Resource
* To increase productivity of rainfed/degraded land through the process of integrated watershed management.
* To support the States/UTs for implementation of National Land Records Modernization Programme (NLRMP)
* Land reforms and other related matters relating to land like administration of Land Acquisition Act, 1894, National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy of 2007 , Registration Act, 1908 etc.
* Bio-diesel Mission
Ministry of Science and Technology
It ischarged with formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating toscience and technologyinIndia.
The ministry includes the following departments:
* Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
* Department of Science and Technology (DST)
* Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR)
Department of Science and Technology (DST)
* Formulation of policy statements and guidelines
* Co-ordination of areas of Science & Technology in which a number of Institutions &Departments have interests and capabilities
* Support to basic and applied research in National Institutions
* Support minimum Infrastructural facilities for Testing & Instrumentation
* Technology Development and Commercialization -Technology Development Board
* Autonomous Research Institutions
* Fostering International Cooperation in S&T
* Socially oriented S&T interventions for rural & weaker sections
* SupportScience & Technology Entrepreneurship Developmentfor promotion of knowledge Based Technology Driven Entrepreneurs
* Popularisation of Science & Technology
* Promotion and Development of S&T in States
* Scientific surveys and services throughSurvey of IndiaandNational Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation (NATMO)
* Management of Information Systems for Science & Technology
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR)
* The primary endeavour of DSIR is to promote R&D by the industries, support a larger cross section of small and medium industrial units to develop state-of-the art globally competitive technologies of high commercial potential, catalyze faster commercialization of lab-scale R&D, enhance the share of technology intensive exports in overall exports, strengthen industrial consultancy & technology management capabilities and establish user friendly information network to facilitate scientific and industrial research in the country.
* It also provides a link between scientific laboratories and industrial establishments for transfer of technologies through National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) and facilitates investment in R&D through Central Electronics Limited (CEL).
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
It is responsible for
* welfare,
* social justice, and
* empowermentof disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society, includingscheduled castes(SC),scheduled tribes(ST),Other Backward Classes(OBC), thedisabled, theelderly, and the victims ofdrug abuse.
The ministry includes the following departments:
* Department of Disability Affairs
* Department of Social Justice and Empowerment
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
It is concerned with coverage and quality aspects of statistics released. The surveys conducted by the Ministry are based on scientific sampling methods.
The ministry includes the following departments:
Department of Statistics
It is also known as National Statistical Office (NSO).It has two wings namely Central Statistical Office (CSO), National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)
* Central Statistical Office(CSO)
It is responsible for coordination of statistical activities in the country and for evolving and maintaining statistical standards. Its activities include compilation of National Accounts; conduct of Annual Survey of Industries and Economic Censuses, compilation of Index of Industrial Production, as well as Consumer Price Indices. It also deals with various social statistics, training, international cooperation, Industrial Classification etc. The CSO is headed by a Director-General who is assisted by 5 Additional Director-Generals looking after the National Accounts Division, Social Statistics Division, Economic Statistics Division, Training Division and the Coordination and Publication Division. CSO is located in the Sardar Patel Bhawan, Parliament Street, New Delhi. The Industrial Statistics Wing of CSO is located in Kolkata. The Computer Centre also under the CSO is located in R K Puram, New Delhi.
* National Sample Survey Office(NSSO)
It is responsible for conducting socio-economic surveys. It has four divisions
1. Survey Design and Research Division (SDRD) - Kolkata
2. Field Operations Division (FOD) New Delhi
3. Data Processing Division (DPD) - Kolkata
4. Co-ordination and Publication Division (CPD) New Delhi
The surveys on Consumer Expenditure,Employment Unemployment,Social Consumption (Health, Education etc.),Manufacturing Enterprises,Service Sector Enterprises are carried out once in 5years. And survey of Land and Livestock Holding and Debt and Investment are carried out once in 10 years.
Department of Programme Implementation
It was set up for the purpose of independently monitoring Central Sector Projects and key infrastructure sectors including the social sectors. It has four divisions.
* Infrastructure Monitoring Project Monitoring Division
It is concerned with monitoring of seven key infrastructure sectors including Power, Coal, Railways, Shipping and Ports, Telecommunications, Fertilizers, Cement, Petroleum & Roads and Civil Aviation. It submits monthly review reports.
* Project Monitoring Division
It monitors all central sector projects costing Rs. 20 crore and above. The limit has been revised to Rs. 150 crore from April 2010. Projects are categorized in three groups. Mega projects costing Rs. 1000 crore and above, Major projects with budget Rs. 100 to Rs. 1000 crore and Medium projects costing Rs. 20 crore to Rs. 100 crore.
* Twenty Point Programme Division
This division monitors the implementation of Twenty Point Programme(TPP),1986. Objective of TPP is improving quality of life of the people, especially living below poverty level, to give thrust to schemes related to poverty alleviation, employment generation in rural areas, housing, education, family welfare etc.
* Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme Division
It monitors the implementation of the various works/activities under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme. It was launched in 1993 to enable MPs to recommend works of development nature with emphasis on creation of durable community assets in their constituencies/states.
Ministry of Steel
* Co-ordination and planning of the growth and development of Iron and Steel Industry in the country (including Re-rolling Mills, Alloy Steel and Ferro Alloy Industries, Refractories) both in the Public and Private Sectors;
* Formulation of policies in respect of production, pricing, distribution, import and export of iron & steel, ferro alloys and refractories; and
* Development of input industries relating to iron ore, manganese ore, chrome ore and Refractories etc. , required mainly by the steel industry.
Ministry of Textiles
* To promote planned and harmonious growth of textiles by making available adequate fibres to all sectors.
* To promote technological upgradation for all types of textiles including technical textiles, jute, silk, cotton and wool.
* To promote skills of all textile workers, handloom weavers and handicrafts artisans, creation of new employment opportunities and development of new designs to make these sectors economically sustainable.
* To ensure proper working environment and easy access to health care facilities and insurance cover to weavers and artisans to achieve better quality of life.
* To promote exports of all types of textiles and clothing and handicrafts and increase Indias share of world exports in these sectors.
Ministry of Tourism
1. All Policy Matters, including:
* Development Policies.
* Incentives.
* External Assistance.
* Manpower Development.
* Promotion & Marketing.
* Investment Facilitation.
2. Planning
3. Co-ordination with other Ministries, Departments, State/UT Governments.
4. Regulation:
* Standards.
* Guidelines
5. Infrastructure & Product Development.
* Guidelines
6. Human Resource Development
* Institutions.
* Setting Standards and Guidelines.
7. Publicity & Marketing:
* Policy.
* Strategies.
* Co-ordination.
8. Research, Analysis, Monitoring and Evaluation
9. International Co-operation and External Assistance
* International Bodies.
* Bilateral Agreements.
* External Assistance.
* Foreign Technical Collaboration
10. Legislation and Parliamentary Work
11. Establishment matters.
12. Vigilance matters.
13. Implementation of official language policy.
14. Budget co-ordination and related matters.
15. Plan-coordination and monitoring.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs
* Tribal Welfare-Planning, Policy formulation, Research and Training
* Tribal development including scholarships to STs
* Promotion of voluntary efforts in development of STs
* Administrative Ministry with respect to matters concerning Scheduled Areas
Ministry of Water Resources
* Overall planning, policy formulation, coordination and guidance in the water resources sector.
* Technical guidance, scrutiny, clearance and monitoring of the irrigation, flood control and multi-purpose projects (major/medium).
* General infrastructural, technical and research support for sect oral development.
* Providing special Central financial assistance for specific projects and assistance in obtaining external finance from World Bank and other agencies.
* Overall policy formulation, planning and guidance in respect of minor irrigation and command area development, administration and monitoring of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes and promotion of participatory irrigation management.
* Overall planning for the development of ground water resources, establishment of utilizable resources and formulation of policies of exploitation, overseeing of and support to State level activities in ground water development.
* Formulation of national water development perspective and the determination of the water balance of different basins/sub-basins for consideration of possibilities of inter-basin transfers.
* Coordination, mediation and facilitation in regard to the resolution of differences or disputes relating to inter-state rivers and in some instances, the overseeing of the implementation of inter-state projects.
* Operation of the central network for flood forecasting and warning on inter-state rivers, the provision of central assistance for some State Schemes in special cases and preparation of flood control master plans for the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.
* Talks and negotiations with neighbouring countries, in regard to river waters, water resources development projects and the operation of the Indus Water Treaty.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
* It is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to women and child development inIndia.
* The broad mandate of the Ministry is to have holistic development ofWomen and Children.
* As a nodal Ministry for the advancement of women and children, theMinistry formulates plans, policies and programmes; enacts/ amends legislation, guides and coordinates the efforts of both governmental and non-governmental organisations working in the field of Women and Child Development.
* Besides, playing its nodal role, the Ministry implements certain innovative programmes for women and children.
* These programmes cover welfare and support services, training for employment and income generation, awareness generation and gender sensitization.
* These programmes play a supplementary and complementary role to the other general developmental programmes in the sectors of health, education, rural development etc.
* All these efforts are directed to ensure that women are empowered both economically and socially and thus become equal partners in national development along with men.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
It administers
* Department of youth affairs and
* Department of Sports.
Department of Sports
* Sports promotion is primarily the responsibility of the various National Sports Federations which are autonomous.
* To create the infrastructure and promote capacity building for broad-basing sports as well as for achieving excellence in various competitive events at the national and international levels.
Department of youth affairs
* The Youth, i.e. those falling within the age group of 15-35 years constitutes nearly 40% of the total population of India.
* This group which is the most vibrant and dynamic segment of the countrys population constitutes potentially its most valuable human resource.
* To optimally tap their constructive and creative energies, theDepartment pursues the twin objectives of personality building and nation building, i.e. developing the personality of youth and involving them in various nation-building activities.
* As most of the issues concerning young people are the functions of other Ministries/Departments, like Education, Employment & Training, Health and Family Welfare, etc. the role of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports is to act as a facilitator and catalytic agent.
List of reference
Contents taken from respective ministries and departments. So, List will be look like another article.
By
Manikandan A
Showing posts with label State Governments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label State Governments. Show all posts
Monday, January 13, 2014
Crisis management compilation of 2nd ARC
The crisis may be defined as an emergency situation arising out of natural or human activity which poses a threat to human life and property or leads to large scale disruption of normal life. A crisis may degenerate into disaster if it is not properly managed resulting in avoidable loss of human life and property on a large scale.
Classification of crisis:
1. Crisis caused by nature:
2. Climatic events: floods, cyclones, draughts, storms
3. Geological events: landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches.
4. Crisis caused by environmental degradation and disturbance of the ecological balance
5. Crisis caused by accidents. These can be further classified as industrial and nuclear mishaps and fire related accidents
6. Crisis caused by biological activities: public health crises, epidemics etc.
7. Crisis caused by hostile elements: terrorism, extremism, war, insurgency etc.
8. Crisis caused by disruption /failure of major infrastructural facilities including communication lines, large scale strikes; and
9. Crisis caused by large crowds getting out of control
Scale of crisis:
Depending on the intensity and area of impact the crisis situations can be labeled as local, sub district, district, state and national levels. The scale of crisis determines the nature and level of response.
Phases of crisis management:
1. Pre-crisis : preparedness
Long term measures like constructing embankments to prevent floods, plantations to prevent landslides, construction of earthquake resistant structures, augmenting irrigation facilities including watershed management to counter drought etc.
Short term measures like enforcing building codes, better awareness and public education to reduce the risk, maintaining proper drainage system etc.
1. During crisis: emergency response
Evacuation, search and rescue, providing basic facilities like food, clothing, shelter, drinking water, medicines etc to bring back the life of effected persons to normalcy.
1. Post crisis: recovery, rehabilitation, reconstruction.
The disaster risk depends upon nature and intensity of the hazard on the one hand and the vulnerability of the community on the other.
Disaster risk reduction framework
1. Policy towards risk management
2. Assessment of risk including risk analysis and vulnerability.
3. Risk awareness and preparation of plans for risk mitigation
4. Implementation of plan
5. Early warning systems
6. Use of knowledge
Indias key Hazards, vulnerabilities and the crisis response mechanism:
Every dollar spent on mitigation saves three to five dollars on relief and rehabilitation.
Earthquakes:
In our present state of knowledge, earthquakes can neither be prevented nor predicted in terms of their magnitude, or place and time of occurrence. Therefore, the most effective measures of risk reduction are pre-disaster mitigation, preparedness and preventive measures for reducing the vulnerability of the built environment combined with expeditious and effective rescue and relief actions immediately after the occurrence of the earthquake.
Cyclones:
An effective cyclone disaster prevention and mitigation plan requires:
1. efficient cyclone forecast - and warning services;
2. Rapid dissemination of warnings to the government agencies, particularly marine interests like ports, fisheries and shipping and to the general public and
3. construction of cyclone shelters in vulnerable areas, a ready machinery for evacuation of people to safer areas and community preparedness at all levels to meet the exigencies.
Floods:
The incidence of floods is the direct result of unauthorized construction activities in flood plains and river beds, poor urban planning and implementation, lack of investment in storm water drainage and sewerage for several decades as well as inadequate planning and response mechanisms.
The country has to shift towards efficient management of flood plains, disaster preparedness, response planning, flood forecasting and warning.
Landslides:
Measures to control landslides include micro zonation so as to regulate settlements in hazard prone areas, non interference with the natural water channels, and construction of retaining walls against steep slopes and strengthening of weak areas with grouting.
Avalanches: snow slides along slopes of mountains.
The mitigation measures for avalanches can be classified into structural and non-structural measures:
1. Structural measures:
a) Planting (Avalanche Prevention Forest)
b) Stepped Terraces
c) Avalanche Control Piles
d) Avalanche Control Fence
e) Suspended Fences
f) Snow Cornice Control Structures
g) Protection structures such as stopping, deflecting and retarding structures.
2. Non-structural measures - removing snow deposits on slopes by blasting, predicting avalanches and evacuating people from vulnerable areas.
Desertification: any kind of land degradation can be termed as desertification.
Sea erosion: Prevention measures against sea erosion include (i) sea walls, (ii) gabions, (iii) boulders, (iii) revetments, (iv) steel piles, (iv) rock groynes and (v) offshore rock bars.
Crisis or disaster response mechanism in India:
Over the centuries, local communities have developed their own indigenous survival mechanisms. This rich storehouse of knowledge is a part of our countrys legacy. The Arthashastra, (a treatise on public administration by Chanakya in the 4th century B.C), devoted a section to mitigation measures to combat famines.
Legal framework: national level disaster management act, 2005.
Response mechanism: the community is usually the first responder in case of a disaster. Rural areas: local police station, revenue functionary like karanam etc. urban areas : local police station, fire stations, civic authorities. At district level: collector.
Disaster management does not find any mention in the three lists of seventh schedule.
Role of state government:
In India the basic responsibility to undertake rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures in the event of natural disasters rests with the State Governments. Most states have relief commissioners who are the in charge of relief and rehabilitation measures. Relief commissioners work under the secretary of revenue department.
Every state has a Crisis Management Committee under the chairpersonship of the Chief Secretary, consisting of secretaries in charge of concerned departments, which reviews crisis situations on a day-to-day basis at the time of crisis, coordinates the activities of all departments and provides decision support system to the district administration. At the ministers level, a Cabinet Committee on Natural Calamities under the chairpersonship of the Chief Minister takes stock of situations and is responsible for all important policy decisions.
The District Magistrate/Collector has the responsibility for the overall management of disasters in the district.
Role of union government:
Union Government plays a key supportive role in terms of physical and financial resources and providing complementary measures such as early warning and co-ordination of efforts of all Union ministries, departments and organizations.
At the apex level cabinet committee on natural calamities reviews the crisis situations. If the crisis is concerned with agriculture it will be taken care by Min of Agriculture. If the crisis is concerned with nuclear, biological, chemical emergencies it will be taken care by cabinet committee on security.
The Cabinet Secretary, as the highest executive officer, heads the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC). Secretaries of ministries and departments concerned and heads of other organizations are members of NCMC, which reviews and monitors crisis situations on a regular basis and gives directions to the Crisis Management Group as deemed necessary.
The Central Relief Commissioner in the Ministry of Home Affairs is the Chairman of the Crisis Management Group (CMG) consisting of nodal officers from various concerned ministries. The CMGs functions are to review annual contingency plans formulated by various ministries, departments and organizations in their respective sectors, measures required for dealing with a natural disaster, coordinate the activities of the Union Ministries and State Governments in relation to disaster preparedness and relief, and to obtain information from the nodal officers on all these issues.
The above discussion is all about rescue and rehabilitation or during crisis activity. There is a paradigm shift of disaster management to prevention, mitigation and preparedness. The institutional support for this will be explained below.
Union government national disaster management authority under PM
Ministry of home affairs national institute of disaster management, national disaster response force
National executive committee secretaries of all relevant ministries
State government state disaster management authority under CM
State executive committee secretaries of all relevant ministries
District administration district disaster management authority under district magistrate.
Important measures taken by India to revamp disaster management are
1. Disaster management is moved under the purview of Ministry of home affairs from ministry of agriculture. Min of agriculture retains control regarding draughts, pest attacks, and hailstorms.
2. State governments are advised to reorganize their relief and rehabilitation department into disaster management department.
3. States are advised to constitute state disaster management authority under CM and district disaster management authority under collector(district magistrate).
4. National disaster response force will be constituted with the state of art technology and training to respond to natural and manmade disasters
5. An advanced fail-proof disaster communication network would be set up through Emergency Operation Centers (EOC) at national, state and district levels
6. National institute of disaster management is to be set up in Delhi for training, capacity building, research and documentation on various aspects of disaster management in the country.
7. Basics of disaster management to be introduced in school education, disaster resistant technologies to be introduced in engineering and architecture courses and emergency health management to be introduced in medical and nursing education
8. A community based disaster risk management programme to be launched in multi-hazard districts throughout the country
Legal and institutional framework
Disaster management encompasses all activities including preparedness, early warning, rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
What should a law on crisis management provide?
1. Focus should be on management of crisis so that their degeneration into a disaster is prevented.
2. Certain functions are to be centralized and some are decentralized for effective implementation.
3. Rescue, relief, rehabilitation by district administration is working fine and this bottom up approach of responsibilities need not be disturbed.
4. NDMA as well as the National Executive Committee (NEC) have been given the role not just of planning, coordinating, monitoring and providing assistance during a disaster but also executive functions related to implementation of the emergency relief and disaster response.
What amendments need to be done to disaster management act 2005?
1. Crisis/ disaster management should be the main responsibility of state government and central government has to play supporting role
2. There should be stringent punishment if the funds are misused
3. Law should cast a duty on every public functionary to inform the concerned authority about the crisis if he or she feels that that the concerned authority does not have such information.
4. Law should categorize the disasters as local, district, state and national level. This categorization is helpful to fix the level of authority primary responsible for dealing with the disaster.
5. The law should create uniform structure at apex level to handle all crisis. Such a structure should be headed by PM at national level and CM at state level. At the administrative level the structure should be headed by cabinet secretary at national level and chief secretary at state level.
6. The role of state governments should be brought to forefront for crisis or disaster management
7. The task of implementation of mitigation/prevention and response measures may be left to the State Governments and the district and local authorities with the line ministries/departments of Government of India, playing a supportive role.
Documentation of best practices followed by foreign countries is essential for disaster management. Professionalize the disaster management.
Risk reduction
Disaster risk can be reduced by forecasting occurrence of hazards as accurately as possible and well in time, and preparing in advance for their onset and even manipulating those natural hazards, which lend themselves to manipulation.
Assessment of risk Hazard and vulnerability analysis:
The first step in planning for mitigation measures for any crisis in an area is an understanding of the potential hazards in that area. Closely linked with this is assessing the vulnerability of society to such hazards.
Hazard and vulnerability analyses should be made an essential component of all crisis/disaster mitigation plans
Generating awareness about risk:
A healthy partnership between the media and the disaster management machinery has to be there.
Awareness generation programmes should be undertaken using tools of social marketing.
Details of past accidents and disasters and the lessons learnt, should be documented and kept in the public domain. The Disaster Management Authorities have to take up this task.
Making crisis/ disaster plans as a part of development plans:
Long term disaster mitigation/prevention plans include major capital intensive activities such as training of water courses, construction of protective bunds, afforestation, plantation of drought resistant vegetation, construction of shelters, raising embankments, retrofitting of buildings, permanent relocation of vulnerable settlements etc, which can sometimes have inter-district or even inter-state ramifications.
Instruments for the mitigation of disasters: These can be categorized as
Proper environmental management: Environment management must be factored into all planning and development activities.
Hazard reduction measures: Different disasters require different mitigation measures. For Ex: Flood mitigation requires measures like training the rivers, building embankments, raising level of habitations etc.
National building code in India mainly contains administrative regulations, development control rules and general building requirements; fire safety requirements; stipulations regarding materials, structural design and construction (including safety); and building and plumbing services.
Effective implementation of laws and regulations.
Early warning systems:
The objective of an early warning system is to alert the community of any impending hazard so that they can take preventive measures. An early warning system basically has four components - capturing the precursor events, transmission of this data to a central processing facility, alert recognition of an impending crisis and warning dissemination.
Communications networks, with sufficient redundancies should be established between the data collection point to the points where hazard is likely to occur. The communication channels from the point of alert generation to the point of disaster should have enough redundancies so as to maintain line of communication in the event of a disaster striking. Care has to be taken to put in place systems to disseminate warnings to all sections of the people.
Sensing the precursors transmission of data processing the data and alert recognition dissemination of warning
Building community resilience:
The community is also a repository of knowledge and skills which have evolved traditionally and these need to be integrated in the risk reduction process. It is necessary to educate the community about the entire disaster risk reduction and even to impart skills and assign specific roles to the members of the community, so that the first response from the community is a well coordinated one. This could be achieved by:
Undertaking location specific training programmes for the community
Mainstreaming crisis management in education
Mainstreaming crisis management in training programmes
Insurance is better option in the vulnerable areas.
Research and use of knowledge:
Disaster management plans should attempt to integrate traditional knowledge available with the communities.
NIDM should coordinate with research institutions and universities on the one hand and field functionaries on the other and identify areas where research is required.
Emergency response system
Since the initial response in any crisis/disaster should be timely and speedy, the Emergency Response Plans should be up-to-date and should lay down the trigger points in unambiguous terms.
Standard operating procedures should be developed for each disaster at the district and community level, keeping in mind the disaster vulnerability of the area.
Coordinating relief:
The emergency response phase can be divided into two distinct categories of activities. The first is rescue and the second is relief. The immediate response to any disaster should be launching of rescue operations which have the primary aim of saving human lives and thereafter animal lives and property. As the rescue operations are on, the phase for providing relief starts. Providing relief entails making immediate arrangements to ensure that the basic minimum necessities of life like food, clothing, shelter, security, and basic health and sanitation facilities are made available.
Role of specialized agencies:
Police, home guards, fire services: The police are among the first responders in any crisis. This response normally comes from the nearest police station or police outpost. Their immediate responsibility is to communicate the information and mount rescue and relief efforts with whatever resources those are available with them. The role of Home Guards is to serve as an auxiliary to the police in the maintenance of internal security, help the community in any kind of emergency such as an air-raid, fire, cyclone, earthquake, epidemic, etc., help in maintenance of essential services, promote communal harmony and assist the administration in protecting weaker sections, participate in socio-economic and welfare activities and perform civil defence duties.
Armed forces, Territorial Army and ex-service men: Armed forces have invariably played an important role in rescue and relief operations in all major disasters in the country. Territorial Army units should also be incorporated in crisis management planning and operations. The potential of ex-servicemen available throughout the country should also be tapped for disaster management.
Recovery
Recovery efforts following rescue and relief in any disaster can be classified into short term and long term. The short term activities for recovery are debris clearance, providing semi-permanent shelter and ensuring sanitation and restoring lifelines, while the long term activities involve building a safer and more sustainable livelihood.
Based on the assessment of the damage and the needs, a recovery strategy has to be formulated. The strategy should include all interventions - economic, social, political and psychological. The resources should be identified and the roles and responsibilities of all concerned should be defined.
Guiding Principles for Post-Disaster Recovery
1. Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in the recovery/ development process
2. Improving/maintaining coordination
3. Promoting participatory approaches and decentralized planning and programming for recovery
4. Enhancing safety standards and integrating risk reduction in reconstruction and development
5. Improving the living conditions of the affected communities and sectors
6. Building local and national capacities for increased resilience, risk management and sustainable development
7. Taking advantage of ongoing initiatives
8. Gender sensibility
9. Demonstrative effects
10. Monitoring, evaluating and learning
Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 envisages establishment of two funds, namely, National Disaster Response Fund and National Disaster Mitigation Fund. Similar funds are also to be established at the State and District levels.
Gender Issues and Vulnerability of weaker sections
The vulnerability analysis should bring out the specific vulnerabilities of women and these should be addressed in any mitigation effort. Disaster mitigation plans should be prepared, in consultation with womens groups. Similar steps should be taken for other vulnerable groups.
In the recovery phase, efforts should focus on making women economically independent by offering them opportunities of earning incomes, providing training in new skills, forming self-help groups, providing micro-finance, marketing facilities etc.
Drought management
Unlike floods, earthquakes, and cyclones, droughts have certain distinct features
1. the onset is slow giving adequate warning,
2. it affects livelihoods of people over a large area,
3. the duration of the disaster is much longer and so the relief efforts have to be sustained over this stretched time period,
4. it remains basically a rural phenomenon except that very severe drought may also impact on urban water supply by drying up sources and drastically reducing water table in regions with aquifers, and
5. There is a possibility that drought management efforts could reduce vulnerability by improving moisture conservation and vegetal cover etc.
A National Institute of Drought Management may be set up for networking on multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral research on various aspects of drought, acting as a resource centre on droughts and carrying out impact evaluation studies of the drought management efforts. It needs to be ensured that the mandate and agenda of this proposed institute does not duplicate the efforts of the National Institute of Disaster Management.
The drought declaration process needs to be rationalized and made uniform in all states. It would not be appropriate to base such declaration upon the crop yields as it delays the commencement of drought relief measures. Therefore, the declaration would have to be based upon an estimate of the cropped area. To begin with, these would have to be eye estimates. With advances in satellite imagery, these estimates could be corroborated and ultimately the entire exercise could be based on remote sensing.
Satellite imagery and similar techniques are powerful tools in anticipating the occurrence and assessment of the effect of extreme weather events.
Management of specific crisis situations epidemics, disruption of essential services
With rapid development, industrialization and urbanization, the life of citizens depends on a wide range of essential services like power, transport, telecommunications and drinking water supply. Any disruption in these services would lead to large scale hardship to people.
References:
1. 2nd Administrative reforms commission reports on crisis management.
P.Bharath Kumar
Classification of crisis:
1. Crisis caused by nature:
2. Climatic events: floods, cyclones, draughts, storms
3. Geological events: landslides, earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches.
4. Crisis caused by environmental degradation and disturbance of the ecological balance
5. Crisis caused by accidents. These can be further classified as industrial and nuclear mishaps and fire related accidents
6. Crisis caused by biological activities: public health crises, epidemics etc.
7. Crisis caused by hostile elements: terrorism, extremism, war, insurgency etc.
8. Crisis caused by disruption /failure of major infrastructural facilities including communication lines, large scale strikes; and
9. Crisis caused by large crowds getting out of control
Scale of crisis:
Depending on the intensity and area of impact the crisis situations can be labeled as local, sub district, district, state and national levels. The scale of crisis determines the nature and level of response.
Phases of crisis management:
1. Pre-crisis : preparedness
Long term measures like constructing embankments to prevent floods, plantations to prevent landslides, construction of earthquake resistant structures, augmenting irrigation facilities including watershed management to counter drought etc.
Short term measures like enforcing building codes, better awareness and public education to reduce the risk, maintaining proper drainage system etc.
1. During crisis: emergency response
Evacuation, search and rescue, providing basic facilities like food, clothing, shelter, drinking water, medicines etc to bring back the life of effected persons to normalcy.
1. Post crisis: recovery, rehabilitation, reconstruction.
The disaster risk depends upon nature and intensity of the hazard on the one hand and the vulnerability of the community on the other.
Disaster risk reduction framework
1. Policy towards risk management
2. Assessment of risk including risk analysis and vulnerability.
3. Risk awareness and preparation of plans for risk mitigation
4. Implementation of plan
5. Early warning systems
6. Use of knowledge
Indias key Hazards, vulnerabilities and the crisis response mechanism:
Every dollar spent on mitigation saves three to five dollars on relief and rehabilitation.
Earthquakes:
In our present state of knowledge, earthquakes can neither be prevented nor predicted in terms of their magnitude, or place and time of occurrence. Therefore, the most effective measures of risk reduction are pre-disaster mitigation, preparedness and preventive measures for reducing the vulnerability of the built environment combined with expeditious and effective rescue and relief actions immediately after the occurrence of the earthquake.
Cyclones:
An effective cyclone disaster prevention and mitigation plan requires:
1. efficient cyclone forecast - and warning services;
2. Rapid dissemination of warnings to the government agencies, particularly marine interests like ports, fisheries and shipping and to the general public and
3. construction of cyclone shelters in vulnerable areas, a ready machinery for evacuation of people to safer areas and community preparedness at all levels to meet the exigencies.
Floods:
The incidence of floods is the direct result of unauthorized construction activities in flood plains and river beds, poor urban planning and implementation, lack of investment in storm water drainage and sewerage for several decades as well as inadequate planning and response mechanisms.
The country has to shift towards efficient management of flood plains, disaster preparedness, response planning, flood forecasting and warning.
Landslides:
Measures to control landslides include micro zonation so as to regulate settlements in hazard prone areas, non interference with the natural water channels, and construction of retaining walls against steep slopes and strengthening of weak areas with grouting.
Avalanches: snow slides along slopes of mountains.
The mitigation measures for avalanches can be classified into structural and non-structural measures:
1. Structural measures:
a) Planting (Avalanche Prevention Forest)
b) Stepped Terraces
c) Avalanche Control Piles
d) Avalanche Control Fence
e) Suspended Fences
f) Snow Cornice Control Structures
g) Protection structures such as stopping, deflecting and retarding structures.
2. Non-structural measures - removing snow deposits on slopes by blasting, predicting avalanches and evacuating people from vulnerable areas.
Desertification: any kind of land degradation can be termed as desertification.
Sea erosion: Prevention measures against sea erosion include (i) sea walls, (ii) gabions, (iii) boulders, (iii) revetments, (iv) steel piles, (iv) rock groynes and (v) offshore rock bars.
Crisis or disaster response mechanism in India:
Over the centuries, local communities have developed their own indigenous survival mechanisms. This rich storehouse of knowledge is a part of our countrys legacy. The Arthashastra, (a treatise on public administration by Chanakya in the 4th century B.C), devoted a section to mitigation measures to combat famines.
Legal framework: national level disaster management act, 2005.
Response mechanism: the community is usually the first responder in case of a disaster. Rural areas: local police station, revenue functionary like karanam etc. urban areas : local police station, fire stations, civic authorities. At district level: collector.
Disaster management does not find any mention in the three lists of seventh schedule.
Role of state government:
In India the basic responsibility to undertake rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures in the event of natural disasters rests with the State Governments. Most states have relief commissioners who are the in charge of relief and rehabilitation measures. Relief commissioners work under the secretary of revenue department.
Every state has a Crisis Management Committee under the chairpersonship of the Chief Secretary, consisting of secretaries in charge of concerned departments, which reviews crisis situations on a day-to-day basis at the time of crisis, coordinates the activities of all departments and provides decision support system to the district administration. At the ministers level, a Cabinet Committee on Natural Calamities under the chairpersonship of the Chief Minister takes stock of situations and is responsible for all important policy decisions.
The District Magistrate/Collector has the responsibility for the overall management of disasters in the district.
Role of union government:
Union Government plays a key supportive role in terms of physical and financial resources and providing complementary measures such as early warning and co-ordination of efforts of all Union ministries, departments and organizations.
At the apex level cabinet committee on natural calamities reviews the crisis situations. If the crisis is concerned with agriculture it will be taken care by Min of Agriculture. If the crisis is concerned with nuclear, biological, chemical emergencies it will be taken care by cabinet committee on security.
The Cabinet Secretary, as the highest executive officer, heads the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC). Secretaries of ministries and departments concerned and heads of other organizations are members of NCMC, which reviews and monitors crisis situations on a regular basis and gives directions to the Crisis Management Group as deemed necessary.
The Central Relief Commissioner in the Ministry of Home Affairs is the Chairman of the Crisis Management Group (CMG) consisting of nodal officers from various concerned ministries. The CMGs functions are to review annual contingency plans formulated by various ministries, departments and organizations in their respective sectors, measures required for dealing with a natural disaster, coordinate the activities of the Union Ministries and State Governments in relation to disaster preparedness and relief, and to obtain information from the nodal officers on all these issues.
The above discussion is all about rescue and rehabilitation or during crisis activity. There is a paradigm shift of disaster management to prevention, mitigation and preparedness. The institutional support for this will be explained below.
Union government national disaster management authority under PM
Ministry of home affairs national institute of disaster management, national disaster response force
National executive committee secretaries of all relevant ministries
State government state disaster management authority under CM
State executive committee secretaries of all relevant ministries
District administration district disaster management authority under district magistrate.
Important measures taken by India to revamp disaster management are
1. Disaster management is moved under the purview of Ministry of home affairs from ministry of agriculture. Min of agriculture retains control regarding draughts, pest attacks, and hailstorms.
2. State governments are advised to reorganize their relief and rehabilitation department into disaster management department.
3. States are advised to constitute state disaster management authority under CM and district disaster management authority under collector(district magistrate).
4. National disaster response force will be constituted with the state of art technology and training to respond to natural and manmade disasters
5. An advanced fail-proof disaster communication network would be set up through Emergency Operation Centers (EOC) at national, state and district levels
6. National institute of disaster management is to be set up in Delhi for training, capacity building, research and documentation on various aspects of disaster management in the country.
7. Basics of disaster management to be introduced in school education, disaster resistant technologies to be introduced in engineering and architecture courses and emergency health management to be introduced in medical and nursing education
8. A community based disaster risk management programme to be launched in multi-hazard districts throughout the country
Legal and institutional framework
Disaster management encompasses all activities including preparedness, early warning, rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
What should a law on crisis management provide?
1. Focus should be on management of crisis so that their degeneration into a disaster is prevented.
2. Certain functions are to be centralized and some are decentralized for effective implementation.
3. Rescue, relief, rehabilitation by district administration is working fine and this bottom up approach of responsibilities need not be disturbed.
4. NDMA as well as the National Executive Committee (NEC) have been given the role not just of planning, coordinating, monitoring and providing assistance during a disaster but also executive functions related to implementation of the emergency relief and disaster response.
What amendments need to be done to disaster management act 2005?
1. Crisis/ disaster management should be the main responsibility of state government and central government has to play supporting role
2. There should be stringent punishment if the funds are misused
3. Law should cast a duty on every public functionary to inform the concerned authority about the crisis if he or she feels that that the concerned authority does not have such information.
4. Law should categorize the disasters as local, district, state and national level. This categorization is helpful to fix the level of authority primary responsible for dealing with the disaster.
5. The law should create uniform structure at apex level to handle all crisis. Such a structure should be headed by PM at national level and CM at state level. At the administrative level the structure should be headed by cabinet secretary at national level and chief secretary at state level.
6. The role of state governments should be brought to forefront for crisis or disaster management
7. The task of implementation of mitigation/prevention and response measures may be left to the State Governments and the district and local authorities with the line ministries/departments of Government of India, playing a supportive role.
Documentation of best practices followed by foreign countries is essential for disaster management. Professionalize the disaster management.
Risk reduction
Disaster risk can be reduced by forecasting occurrence of hazards as accurately as possible and well in time, and preparing in advance for their onset and even manipulating those natural hazards, which lend themselves to manipulation.
Assessment of risk Hazard and vulnerability analysis:
The first step in planning for mitigation measures for any crisis in an area is an understanding of the potential hazards in that area. Closely linked with this is assessing the vulnerability of society to such hazards.
Hazard and vulnerability analyses should be made an essential component of all crisis/disaster mitigation plans
Generating awareness about risk:
A healthy partnership between the media and the disaster management machinery has to be there.
Awareness generation programmes should be undertaken using tools of social marketing.
Details of past accidents and disasters and the lessons learnt, should be documented and kept in the public domain. The Disaster Management Authorities have to take up this task.
Making crisis/ disaster plans as a part of development plans:
Long term disaster mitigation/prevention plans include major capital intensive activities such as training of water courses, construction of protective bunds, afforestation, plantation of drought resistant vegetation, construction of shelters, raising embankments, retrofitting of buildings, permanent relocation of vulnerable settlements etc, which can sometimes have inter-district or even inter-state ramifications.
Instruments for the mitigation of disasters: These can be categorized as
Proper environmental management: Environment management must be factored into all planning and development activities.
Hazard reduction measures: Different disasters require different mitigation measures. For Ex: Flood mitigation requires measures like training the rivers, building embankments, raising level of habitations etc.
National building code in India mainly contains administrative regulations, development control rules and general building requirements; fire safety requirements; stipulations regarding materials, structural design and construction (including safety); and building and plumbing services.
Effective implementation of laws and regulations.
Early warning systems:
The objective of an early warning system is to alert the community of any impending hazard so that they can take preventive measures. An early warning system basically has four components - capturing the precursor events, transmission of this data to a central processing facility, alert recognition of an impending crisis and warning dissemination.
Communications networks, with sufficient redundancies should be established between the data collection point to the points where hazard is likely to occur. The communication channels from the point of alert generation to the point of disaster should have enough redundancies so as to maintain line of communication in the event of a disaster striking. Care has to be taken to put in place systems to disseminate warnings to all sections of the people.
Sensing the precursors transmission of data processing the data and alert recognition dissemination of warning
Building community resilience:
The community is also a repository of knowledge and skills which have evolved traditionally and these need to be integrated in the risk reduction process. It is necessary to educate the community about the entire disaster risk reduction and even to impart skills and assign specific roles to the members of the community, so that the first response from the community is a well coordinated one. This could be achieved by:
Undertaking location specific training programmes for the community
Mainstreaming crisis management in education
Mainstreaming crisis management in training programmes
Insurance is better option in the vulnerable areas.
Research and use of knowledge:
Disaster management plans should attempt to integrate traditional knowledge available with the communities.
NIDM should coordinate with research institutions and universities on the one hand and field functionaries on the other and identify areas where research is required.
Emergency response system
Since the initial response in any crisis/disaster should be timely and speedy, the Emergency Response Plans should be up-to-date and should lay down the trigger points in unambiguous terms.
Standard operating procedures should be developed for each disaster at the district and community level, keeping in mind the disaster vulnerability of the area.
Coordinating relief:
The emergency response phase can be divided into two distinct categories of activities. The first is rescue and the second is relief. The immediate response to any disaster should be launching of rescue operations which have the primary aim of saving human lives and thereafter animal lives and property. As the rescue operations are on, the phase for providing relief starts. Providing relief entails making immediate arrangements to ensure that the basic minimum necessities of life like food, clothing, shelter, security, and basic health and sanitation facilities are made available.
Role of specialized agencies:
Police, home guards, fire services: The police are among the first responders in any crisis. This response normally comes from the nearest police station or police outpost. Their immediate responsibility is to communicate the information and mount rescue and relief efforts with whatever resources those are available with them. The role of Home Guards is to serve as an auxiliary to the police in the maintenance of internal security, help the community in any kind of emergency such as an air-raid, fire, cyclone, earthquake, epidemic, etc., help in maintenance of essential services, promote communal harmony and assist the administration in protecting weaker sections, participate in socio-economic and welfare activities and perform civil defence duties.
Armed forces, Territorial Army and ex-service men: Armed forces have invariably played an important role in rescue and relief operations in all major disasters in the country. Territorial Army units should also be incorporated in crisis management planning and operations. The potential of ex-servicemen available throughout the country should also be tapped for disaster management.
Recovery
Recovery efforts following rescue and relief in any disaster can be classified into short term and long term. The short term activities for recovery are debris clearance, providing semi-permanent shelter and ensuring sanitation and restoring lifelines, while the long term activities involve building a safer and more sustainable livelihood.
Based on the assessment of the damage and the needs, a recovery strategy has to be formulated. The strategy should include all interventions - economic, social, political and psychological. The resources should be identified and the roles and responsibilities of all concerned should be defined.
Guiding Principles for Post-Disaster Recovery
1. Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in the recovery/ development process
2. Improving/maintaining coordination
3. Promoting participatory approaches and decentralized planning and programming for recovery
4. Enhancing safety standards and integrating risk reduction in reconstruction and development
5. Improving the living conditions of the affected communities and sectors
6. Building local and national capacities for increased resilience, risk management and sustainable development
7. Taking advantage of ongoing initiatives
8. Gender sensibility
9. Demonstrative effects
10. Monitoring, evaluating and learning
Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 envisages establishment of two funds, namely, National Disaster Response Fund and National Disaster Mitigation Fund. Similar funds are also to be established at the State and District levels.
Gender Issues and Vulnerability of weaker sections
The vulnerability analysis should bring out the specific vulnerabilities of women and these should be addressed in any mitigation effort. Disaster mitigation plans should be prepared, in consultation with womens groups. Similar steps should be taken for other vulnerable groups.
In the recovery phase, efforts should focus on making women economically independent by offering them opportunities of earning incomes, providing training in new skills, forming self-help groups, providing micro-finance, marketing facilities etc.
Drought management
Unlike floods, earthquakes, and cyclones, droughts have certain distinct features
1. the onset is slow giving adequate warning,
2. it affects livelihoods of people over a large area,
3. the duration of the disaster is much longer and so the relief efforts have to be sustained over this stretched time period,
4. it remains basically a rural phenomenon except that very severe drought may also impact on urban water supply by drying up sources and drastically reducing water table in regions with aquifers, and
5. There is a possibility that drought management efforts could reduce vulnerability by improving moisture conservation and vegetal cover etc.
A National Institute of Drought Management may be set up for networking on multi-disciplinary, cross-sectoral research on various aspects of drought, acting as a resource centre on droughts and carrying out impact evaluation studies of the drought management efforts. It needs to be ensured that the mandate and agenda of this proposed institute does not duplicate the efforts of the National Institute of Disaster Management.
The drought declaration process needs to be rationalized and made uniform in all states. It would not be appropriate to base such declaration upon the crop yields as it delays the commencement of drought relief measures. Therefore, the declaration would have to be based upon an estimate of the cropped area. To begin with, these would have to be eye estimates. With advances in satellite imagery, these estimates could be corroborated and ultimately the entire exercise could be based on remote sensing.
Satellite imagery and similar techniques are powerful tools in anticipating the occurrence and assessment of the effect of extreme weather events.
Management of specific crisis situations epidemics, disruption of essential services
With rapid development, industrialization and urbanization, the life of citizens depends on a wide range of essential services like power, transport, telecommunications and drinking water supply. Any disruption in these services would lead to large scale hardship to people.
References:
1. 2nd Administrative reforms commission reports on crisis management.
P.Bharath Kumar
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