Transcript Sensitising the Stakeholders about Disaster Management in

Sensitising the Stakeholders
about Disaster Management in
Libraries and Information Centres
in India
*Dr. Trishanjit Kaur
Associate Professor
Email: [email protected]
&
*Dr. Jagtar Singh
Professor and Head
*Department of Library and Information Science,
Punjabi University, Patiala -147 002 (India)
Email: [email protected]
India Sensitive to Disasters
“Of the 35 states and union territories, as
many as 27 are disaster prone. And if the
perceived threats due to other disasters
such as chemical and terrorist attacks are
added, every square inch of India is
vulnerable, calling for immediate attention
and sustained effort” (Bhandari, 2006).
Disasters vary from termite to tsunami.
India’s Response to Disasters
• Disaster Management Act 2005. (India, Parliament,
Rajya Sabha, 2005) (http://www.rajyasabha.nic.in/bills-lsrs/2005/LV_2005.pdf)
• Establishment of National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA) (http://www.ndmindia.nic.in) headed
by the Prime Minister with multi-disciplinary experts.
• The Act recommends creating State Disaster
Management Authorities in all states under the Chief
Ministers and District Disaster Management Authority, as
this authorizes it to coordinate disaster management
activities from national to local level with offices at state,
district and local level when disaster strikes.
India’s Response to Disasters (Contd.)
• National Institute of Disaster Management
(NIDM) to meet the multi-pronged need for
research, training, education and institutional
cooperation. There is an integrated mechanism
for management of disasters at the National,
State, District and Sub-District levels.
• The National Policy on Disaster Management is
almost finalized.
• But no mention of libraries in any of these
important documents.
Disaster Management Education
• Online training e.g. NIDM and World Bank
Institute Washington are offering ‘On-line
Training on Disaster Management’
(http://nidm.gov.in/WBI_09.pdf)
• Role of CBSE and other boards
• Role of AICTE
• Role of UGC
Disaster Management in Libraries
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Paper-based to digital documents
Preservation versus access
Threats from termite to computer virus
Man made and natural disasters or water
and climate related, geologically related,
and chemical industrial and nuclear,
accident related and biologically related.
International Scenario
• The United Nations in 1989 declared the
1990s as the International Decade for Natural
Disaster Reduction
• Unesco: International Council of Museum
(ICOM) International Committee of the Blue
Shield (ICBS) IFLA: IFLA-PAC is conducting
a series of four conferences pertaining to the
dangers of air, water, fire and earth to our
documentary heritage. For more information
access (http://www.ifla.org/VI/4/pac.htm).
Reasons for Apathetic Attitude
• Apathetic attitude of the govt. towards
libraries and disaster management (DM).
Quality flows from the top, hence
governments At union and state level must
put DM on priority list.
• Lack of awareness of DM among LIPs at
large.
• DM is the missing link in the LIS education
programmes.
• Casual attitude of authorities towards
prevention and cure with regard to DM.
Sensitisation Strategies
• Incorporating the DM components in the
LIS syllabi.
• Following the Lessons learned and best
practices.
• Educating, training and equipping LIPs
with necessary knowledge and skills about
Disaster Management.
• Functional buildings, Awareness initiatives.
Suggestions
• Role of governments, UGC, professional
associations, national libraries, state
central libraries, and all other libraries
across frontiers.
• Collaboration with other agencies and
programmes, such as UNESCO, IFLA,
MoW, museums, archives etc.
• Sensitizing the stakeholders at different
levels.
Reference
• Bhandari, R.K. 2006. Disaster
management in India-a new awakening.
http://www.vitcdmm.org/journal_on_disast
ers.pdf (accessed August 22, 2009)
Thank You
For your kind attention