Indian Red Cross Society

1. INSTITUTIONAL CASE STUDY ON DISASTER RESPONSE/ MANAGEMENT 1 Indian Red Cross Society The Indian Red Cross Society is a voluntary humanitarian organisation having a network of over 700 branches throughout the country, providing relief in times of disasters/ emergencies and promotes health and care of the vulnerable sections and communities. The mission of the Indian Red Cross Society is to inspire, encourage and initiate at all times all forms of humanitarian activities, so that human suffering can be minimized and even prevented and thus contribute to creating more congenial climate for peace. Red Cross Emblem Important facts of the IRCS : (a) It was established in 1920 and incorporated under Parliament Act XV of 1920. (b) It has branches in 35 states/union territories covering more than 700 districts and sub-districts. (c) The President of India is its President and the Union Health Minister is the Chairman. (d) The National Managing body consists of 19 members. (e) The Secretary General is the Chief Executive of the society. Origin of Indian Red Cross Society During the World War in 1914 India had only the St. John Ambulance Association to help the victims (soldiers or civilians). A bill was introduced by Sir Claude Hill and passed on 7th June 1920. 50 members were formally nominated to constitute the Indian Red Cross Society. A Red Cross on a white background, is the Emblem of the Red Cross, recognised in 1864 as the distinctive sign for the medical relief team on the battle field.

2. INSTITUTIONAL CASE STUDY ON DISASTER RESPONSE/ MANAGEMENT 2 • Seven Fundamental Principles of Red Cross : • Humanity : • It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation and lasting peace among all peoples. • Impartiality : • It makes no discrimination regarding nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. • Independence : • This movement is independent so that at all times it acts in accordance with the principles of the movement. • (d) Voluntary service : • It is a voluntary relief movement not prompted in any manner by desire for gain. • Unity : • There can be only one Red Cross or Red Crescent in a country and it must carry on its humanitarian work throughout its territory. • Universality : • The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, in which all societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties in helping each other, is worldwide. • Neutrality : • In order to enjoy the confidence of all the movement may not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.

3. INSTITUTIONAL CASE STUDY ON DISASTER RESPONSE/ MANAGEMENT 3 • Headquarters of the Indian Red Cross Society is in New Delhi (India).It has a : • Blood Bank (New Delhi) • Disaster Management Centre (New Delhi) • 6 Regional warehouses at Bahadurgarh—Haryana, Arkkonam—Tamil Nadu, Virangam—Gujarat, Vikroli—Maharashtra, Salt Lake—West Bengal, Noonmati— Assam • Central Training Institute in Bahadurgarh • Home for disabled servicemen in Bengaluru • Vocational Training Centres in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

4. INSTITUTIONAL CASE STUDY ON DISASTER RESPONSE/ MANAGEMENT 4 • Programmes and Activities : • The Programmes of the Indian Red Cross are grouped into four core areas : • Promoting humanitarian principles and values. • Disaster response • Disaster preparedness • Health and care of the community • Other major activities include hospital services, blood banks, HIV/AIDS awareness programmes, relief operations in case of fire, involving railways and other accidents.

5. INSTITUTIONAL CASE STUDY ON DISASTER RESPONSE/ MANAGEMENT 5 Role in Disaster Management Now we will discuss the role played by the Indian Red Cross Society in disaster management. The Indian sub-continent is highly prone to droughts, floods and other natural calamities. As many as 22 states are said to be multi-disaster prone regions. (a) Among all the disasters that occur in India, floods are the most devastating : Over 40 million hectares of land have been identified as floodprone. An average of 18.6 million hectares of land is flooded annually. The Ganga- Brahmaputra-Meghna basin, which carries 60% of the nation’s total river flow causes floods. (b) Another major killer is the earthquake : Earthquakes are the other major killers. About 57% of the total area in India is vulnerable to seismic activity of varying intensities. Generally, areas located in the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan region and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are worst hit. (c) Drought is an eternal feature of Indian livelihood : 18% of the country’s total area is drought prone. About half of the Indian population is affected annually by drought. 68% of the total cultivated area is estimated to be drought prone. India is gifted with a long coastline which is exposed to tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. The Indian Ocean is among the six key cycloneprone regions of the world. The Coromandel coastline is more prone — about 80% of the total cyclones generate in this region. The Indian Red Cross Society with the assistance of other national societies provide humanitarian service to the victims of calamities.

6. INSTITUTIONAL CASE STUDY ON DISASTER RESPONSE/ MANAGEMENT 6 Disaster Response An estimated billion people have been affected by war, floods, droughts, earthquakes and environmental disasters, etc. in the past. The impact is high, leaving people shocked by the death of family members and friends, their lives ruined by the loss of homes, possessions and foodstocks. Disasters are becoming more complex; with increasingly long-term consequences as they strike countries with economic problems or political instability, and weaken the already poor public services such as health, water supply and sanitation. The floods occurring every year give people and their crops no time to recover. Disasters disproportionately affect the poor and over 90% of the total disaster-related deaths occur in developing countries where economic losses can wipe out years of economic development.

7. INSTITUTIONAL CASE STUDY ON DISASTER RESPONSE/ MANAGEMENT 7 • Role of Red Cross • A key activity of the Red Cross and its member, Red Crescent societies, has been to bring emergency relief to refugees and victims of poverty and disasters. These activities relate to providing • Shelter (b) Water (c) Food • Basic health care (e) Sense of humanity (f) Reconstruction • Rehabilitation • The Red Cross works to improve the quality of humanitarian assistance. It has been equipping itself with its manpower and physical infrastructure of a nationwide Disaster Preparedness/Disaster response programme. The urgent and serious need for disaster preparedness measures in India has been recommended after the major disaster response operations for the 1998 Super Cyclone in Orissa, 2000 floods in Assam, and the massive earthquake in Gujarat in 2001, Tsunami in 2004; floods and earthquake in 2005.

8. INSTITUTIONAL CASE STUDY ON DISASTER RESPONSE/ MANAGEMENT 8 Disaster Preparedness The Indian Red Cross Society started a nation-wide Community Based Disaster Preparedness (CBDP) training programme in 1999. In 2000, the National Society convened a national strategic planning workshop attended by 19 state branches. A plan for disaster preparedness was formulated and its activities are still continuing. Other Activities : (a) Blood bank :The Indian Red Cross Society is a pioneer in the field of blood services and one of the largest voluntary blood banks in India since 1962. The IRCS regularly conducts motivational campaigns to organise voluntary blood donation camps. It has more than 100 blood banks all over the country. (b) HIV/AIDS :The IRCS is very active in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. It trains youth to spread information and also has programmes and projects for children of HIV positive mothers. (c) Hospital services : The IRCS provides services for sick and wounded men of the defence forces. (d) Home for disabled servicemen :IRCS runs a home in Bengal for servicemen since 1946. The centre has an operation theatre, physiotherapy department, recreation room and library free of cost. (e) International Training Centre :The IRCS provides opportunities for low-income groups. It aims at improving the status of women in the community and the quality of life for the family and the communities in which they live. (f) Maternity and child welfare :Maternity and Child Welfare Schemes of National Headquarters were started in 1954 to extend Maternity and Child Development activities to the weaker sections of the community. (g) Family welfare : These are run by different states and district branches and these centres are equipped to meet motivational and clinical arrangements. (h) Nursing : The Red Cross Society units teach nursing skills to nurses, midwives and housewives.

9. INSTITUTIONAL CASE STUDY ON DISASTER RESPONSE/ MANAGEMENT Objectives One of the objectives is to increase the capacity in disaster preparedness and disaster response in disaster prone branches and national Headquarters and reduce the vulnerability of communities in key disaster prone areas. To assist the National Preparedness and Response Plan to Disaster Management Programme, the IRCS has decided to train a cadre of qualified experts in disaster preparedness and rehabilitation by introducing a one year part-time graduate Diploma Course in DBAR from 15th September 2006. The PG diploma course is affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi. Field units were organised for students by Delhi Fire Services, AIIMS, etc. and they attended mock drills for chemical and fire disasters. Economic hardship, social problems, conflicts and national disasters hit millions of families. The Red Cross Tracing service operates around the world, to re-establish contacts between separated family members and re-uniting them whenever possible. The vision of the Red Cross therefore empowers people, promotes cooperation and lasting peace. Its mission is therefore to become ‘a leading humanitarian organisation serving vulnerable people’.