A High-Level Committee, under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah approves three projects of Rs. 725.62 crore under “Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the states” for Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal.
The Committee has approved Rs. 147.76 crore for Chhattisgarh, Rs. 201.10 crore for Odisha and Rs. 376.76 crore for West Bengal. The HLC is comprised of Finance Minister, Agriculture Minister and Vice Chairman NITI Aayog as members.
To fulfill Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of disaster resilient India, Ministry of Home Affairs under the guidance of Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah has taken several initiatives to ensure effective management of disasters in the country. A number of steps have been taken to prevent any extensive loss to life and property during disasters by strengthening disaster risk reduction system in India.
The Central Government has allocated a total of Rs. 5000 crore under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for “Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in the states”, proposals of 15 states at a total outlay of Rs. 2542.12 crore had already been approved.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and guidance of Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah more than Rs. 21,026 crore has already been released to the states during this year. This include Rs. 14,878.40 crore from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to 26 States, Rs. 4,637.66 crore from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to 15 States, Rs. 1,385.45 crore from State Disaster Mitigation Fund (SDMF) to 11 States and Rs. 124.93 crore from National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) to 03 States.
Fund allocation under the scheme is on cost sharing basis. For Odisha’s ₹202.10 crore under the scheme, Centre to provide ₹150.83 crore & State contribution will be ₹50.27 crore
15th Finance Commission had recommended a provision of ₹ 5,000 crore for strengthening fire services at the State level
While the Centre will provide Rs. 5000 crore to the States for identified activities, the States’ contribution will be of Rs. 1387.99 Crore. In addition, an amount of Rs. 500 crore, out of the total central outlay of Rs. 5000 crore is available for incentivizing the States for adoption of legal and infrastructure-based reforms.
Fire Service is a State subject and has been included as a Municipal function in the XII Schedule of the Constitution of India under Article 243 (W). It is the primary responsibility of the State Governments to allocate resources for strengthening and equipping Fire Services as per requirements and to take various steps required for safety of life and property of the citizens in the area of their jurisdiction from fire hazards.
Insofar as Central Government is concerned, for the period from 2021-22 to 2025-26, as recommended by XV-FC under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), allocation of Rs. 5,000 crore have been earmarked for strengthening fire services at the State level.
