Over 1 lakh young volunteers in 350 districts to be trained through ‘Aapda Mitra’ scheme: Shah

New Delhi, Sep 28 (FN Agency) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said more than one lakh young volunteers in 350 districts affected by the disaster in the country will be trained through ‘Aapda Mitra’ scheme. Addressing the 17th foundation day celebrations of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the Union Home Minister said the government will also provide life insurance to these volunteers. ‘I congratulate NDMA for creating an apt environment of awareness generation on Disaster Management in the entire country,’ Shah said. ‘It is heartening to know that the more than 1 lakh young volunteers in 350 districts will be trained through Aapda Mitra Scheme. I congratulate the Aapda Mitra fraternity! The government will also provide life insurance to these volunteers.

I think it is a very big step,” the Minister said. ‘We are committed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 10 point agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction to reduce mortalities and losses due to disasters,’ the Union Home Minister said. Shah said that under the guidance of the Prime Minister, the Centre now takes proactive steps in post-disaster assessments and does not wait for the state to send reports. He said that during the second Covid-19 wave, there were parts in the country that were also affected by cyclones. When a cyclone comes there are power outages, the Union Home Minister said adding that the Centre pre-emptively ensured that no hospital remains without power and the oxygen carrying trains are not halted because of the cyclone. ‘We have huge challenges in the form of an increase in the frequency of disasters due to climate change. Under the dynamic leadership of the Prime Minister, I am sure we will be able to devise apt strategies for mitigating the same,’ Shah said. On the occasion, the Union Home Minister also launched a scheme document for ‘Aapda Mitra’, training manual for ‘Aapda Mitra’ and scheme document for Common Alerting Protocol (CAP).