Discuss the recent measures initiated in disaster management by the Government of India departing from the earlier reactive approach.
Approach · directive: “discuss”
What it asks · Show how India has moved from relief-centred response to prevention, mitigation and preparedness, with recent measures.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Establish the shift: from a relief-centred, reactive approach to risk reduction across the disaster cycle
- Discuss the recent measures that embody the shift: planning, agenda, early warning, resilient infrastructure, funding and community capacity
Open with · The Disaster Management Act, 2005 moved India from relief-centred response to a full cycle of prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, and recent steps deepen that shift.
Cover
- Planning: the National Disaster Management Plan (2016, revised 2019), aligned with the Sendai Framework, covers prevention to recovery.
- PM's ten-point agenda (2016): disaster-risk management in all development sectors, risk cover for all, women's leadership, risk mapping and technology.
- Early warning and forecasting: better cyclone forecasts by IMD, tsunami warning by INCOIS, flood forecasting by CWC, and impact-based, last-mile alerts.
- Resilient infrastructure: Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), launched by India in 2019, and projects such as the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project.
- Funding: disaster-mitigation funds at national and state levels, recommended by the 15th Finance Commission, shift spending from relief to prevention and preparedness.
- Community and capacity: Aapda Mitra volunteers, NDRF training and mock drills, and school and hospital safety programmes, with technology such as GIS and drones.
- Gaps: weak local-body capacity, uneven enforcement of land-use and building codes, and thin risk data; local risk-informed planning is still needed.
Close with · The shift is from counting relief to reducing risk: preparedness, resilient infrastructure and community capacity save more lives and money than response alone.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 264 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
Until the Disaster Management Act, 2005, India treated disasters as relief events to be handled after the fact; the Act, and the measures since, treat them as risks to be prevented, mitigated and prepared for across the whole cycle.
The shift in approach
- From counting relief to reducing risk: prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, with the NDMA, state and district authorities as the institutional spine.
Recent measures
- Planning: the National Disaster Management Plan (2016, revised 2019), aligned with the Sendai Framework, covers every hazard from prevention to recovery.
- Agenda: the Prime Minister's ten-point agenda (2016) mainstreams risk management in all development sectors, and seeks risk cover for all, women's leadership, risk mapping and technology.
- Early warning: better cyclone forecasts by the IMD, tsunami warning by INCOIS, flood forecasting by the CWC, and impact-based, last-mile alerts that let people move before the event.
- Resilient infrastructure: the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), launched by India in 2019, and projects such as the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project.
- Funding: dedicated mitigation funds at national and state levels, recommended by the 15th Finance Commission, shift money from relief to prevention and preparedness.
- Community and capacity: Aapda Mitra volunteers, NDRF training and mock drills, school and hospital safety programmes, and GIS and drones for mapping and response.
Gaps that remain
- Weak local-body capacity, uneven enforcement of land-use and building codes, and thin risk data; risk-informed planning must reach panchayats and municipalities.
The test of the shift is fewer lives lost per event: preparedness, resilient infrastructure and community capacity save more lives and money than relief ever can.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify). UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.