State govts responsible for safety of life and property: Min
NEW DELHI, 25 Jul: The central government has launched a scheme for expansion and modernisation of fire services in the states from the earmarked allocation of ‘preparedness and capacity-building funding window’ under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for strengthening fire services in the states for the period upto 2025-’26, with a total outlay of Rs 5,000 crore.
Funds are available to the states under the scheme on cost sharing basis.
The identified activities have been broadly categorised under expansion of fire services and modernisation of fire services in the states.
The measures included in the scheme provide for, inter alia, setting up of new fire stations; strengthening the state training centres and capacity building; provisions for modern firefighting equipment; strengthening of state headquarters and urban fire stations; technological upgradation and installation; and augmentation of online system.
This was stated by MoS for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
In addition, an amount of Rs 500 crore out of the total outlay is available to incentivise 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 12th schedule of the Constitution of India under Article 243 (W). The central government does not maintain any data related to fire accidents/incidents in states centrally,” the minister said.
“It is the primary responsibility of the state governments to take necessary steps required for safety of life and property from fire hazards in the areas of their jurisdictions,” he said. (PIB)
