[GK]/CA] NDMA

In the 68 days since the nationwide lockdown was imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Union Home Ministry on an average, issued 1.3 orders a day.

The orders were issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, invoked for the first time in the country since the legislation was drafted after the tsunami in 2004.

COVID-19 is the first pan India biological disaster being handled by the legal and constitutional institutions of the country.

The current lockdown has been imposed under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DM Act).

Under the Act, the States and district authorities can frame their own rules on the basis of broad guidelines issued by the Ministry.

Central government has included the COVID-19 outbreak as “Notified Disaster” as a “critical medical condition or pandemic situation”.

About the Disaster Management Act, 2005:

• Idea for such act came after the Tsunami havoc in Dec 2004.
• The stated object and purpose of the DM Act is to manage disasters, including preparation of mitigation strategies, capacity-building and more.
• It came into force in India in January 2006.
• The Act provides for “the effective management of disasters and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”
• The Act calls for the establishment of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), with the Prime Minister of India as chairperson.
• The Act enjoins the Central Government to Constitute a National Executive Committee (NEC) to assist the National Authority.
• All State Governments are mandated to establish a State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).