Lok Sabha passes Bill to amend the Disaster Management Act

Centre stresses that the legislation will help State governments deal with disasters better.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday (December 12, 2024) passed a Bill to strengthen the working of national and State disaster management authorities, with the Centre stressing that the legislation will help State governments deal with disasters better.

The House cleared the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 by a voice vote. Several amendments moved by the Opposition members were negated by the House.

Pointing that State governments had flagged several difficulties in implementing the Disaster Management Act of 2005, Union Minister Nityanand Rai said the new Bill would not only overcome them but also strengthen the disaster management system. The Bill seeks to bring clarity and convergence among stakeholders working in the field of disaster management.

“When a disaster hits, it hits the country as a whole; this Bill will prepare the country to handle disasters better,” he said.

Many Opposition members, however, claimed that the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 only talks about creation of a plethora of organisations.

Saugata Roy of the Trinamool Congress alleged that the Modi government was not able to manage the pandemic properly and a large number of people died. He said, “This Bill creates a plethora of organisations and has added a number of English terms”.

Captain Viriato Fernandes of the Congress said that while the members were talking about following a holistic approach to deal with disasters, this Bill seemed to have gone against that approach.

Another Congress member, G.K. Padavi, pointed out that climate change had not been included in the Bill and the word “compensation” had been replaced with “relief”.

“It (promotes) over centralisation,” Mr. Padavi said, adding that the Bill did not describe any role of elected members of Parliament.

Taking a dig at the Opposition, BJP member Arun Govil said disruptions in Parliament on a daily basis was a man-made disaster as it hurt Parliament’s dignity. “This is a disaster... I request you (Chair) to come up with a permanent solution for this,” he said.

Published - December 12, 2024 10:00 pm IST