The Maharashtra government has decided to include Civil Defense course in the curriculum of Mumbai University. The decision has been taken in view of the need for volunteers during mock drill exercises and emergencies amid India-Pakistan tension.
Director of Civil Defense Prabhat Kumar said that an MoU has also been signed between the Directorate General of Civil Defense and the University of Mumbai to include civil defense course in academic curriculum.
This course of Civil Defence will be taught in all the engineering colleges of Mumbai University and its assessment will be of 25 marks. Regarding this, Prabhat Kumar said, ‘Students who want to serve the country along with studies will get an opportunity through this course.’ Along with this, Kumar said students will be given training in rescue operations and saving lives in case of emergency.
Apart from this, students will also be trained in such a way that they can work together with the government and civic bodies like disaster cells, fire brigade, hospitals in emergency and war like situations.
Amid India-Pakistan tension, mock drills were organized to make people aware for dealing with emergency conditions across the country. Mock drills were also conducted in Pune, Nasik and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar of Maharashtra.
Around 10,000 volunteers from Civil Defence, Home Guard, NDRF and other emergency response agencies took part in the mock drill conducted at different places. An official associated with the department said that adequate steps were being taken to strengthen the Civil Defence.
Lack of Manpower in Civil Defence
An official said that the Directorate of Civil Defence has been facing a shortage of manpower, emergency vehicles, sirens and training equipment for a long time. However, work is being done to fill these deficiencies soon.
A state should have 420 people for civil defence but currently Maharashtra has only 135 members. Some units in places like Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, have only 1 full time government employee.
