National Disaster Management Authority: Close Encounters with COVID-19

Abstract

Statistics indicate that India is one of the most disaster-prone countries globally. Despite such vulnerability, disaster management had barely been a mainstream political concern in the country until the COVID-19 struck in 2020. This is rather amusing considering that famine codes were framed and commissions were established during the British era. Since then, a long politico-legal journey culminated in establishing the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in 2005. It was a revolutionary step in the country’s institutional arrangement concerning disaster management. Nevertheless, it has failed to have an impactful existence even after one and a half decades. From poor planning to poor execution of projects, rendering committees dysfunctional to formulating disaster management guidelines without any practical implication, the story of the NDMA is far from reassuring. So much so that it has remained almost imperceptible even in the context of the ongoing pandemic. It has confined itself to holding meetings and issuing advisories and circulars and remained out of public view. Instead, the MHA, MoHFW, Prime Minister’s Office, etc., have come to the forefront. The Supreme Court too became impatient and pulled up the authority for its failure in performing its statutory duty. The author briefly introduces the NDMA and outlines its limited role in this pandemic. Its analysis refers to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Government Task Force reports on the NDMA. Besides, it draws an analogy with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the USA. It demonstrates how political interference and inept leadership have rendered it ineffective and thus have deleterious consequences on the country’s disaster management. Finally, the author raises some fundamental questions regarding the structure and working of the NDMA and, eventually, the need for this institution.