GS PAPER III: Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention.

Introduction: From being lauded for their work during the pandemic to facing allegations of high-handedness, the role of the civil defence volunteers in the national capital has come under intense scrutiny recently.

What is the issue?

• Due to their identical khaki uniform, it often becomes difficult for people to distinguish between police and civil defence personnel, leading to arguments.
• One such incident recently turned into a full blown fist-fight between a group of civil defence personnel and general public near IIT-Delhi.
• The Delhi Police clarified civil defence volunteers have no power to stop people using police barricades and prosecute them for violation of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour such as not wearing masks.

Who are civil defence volunteers?

• In Delhi, these are men and women, who work under the command of the district magistrates.
• The overall command lies with the divisional commissioner, to which the DMs report.
• These volunteers are governed by the Civil Defence Act, 1968 which has undergone multiple amendments, with the latest being in 2010, when disaster management was added as one of their roles.
• With the Centre invoking the Disaster Management Act in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, the role of these volunteers came under the spotlight.

What is the primary role of civil defence volunteers?

• According to the Civil Defence Act, 1968, civil defence is defined as any measure “not amounting to actual combat, that protects persons, property and places in India from hostile attack.
• The 2010 amendment expanded the definition by including disaster management as one of the responsibilities.
• The basic role of the volunteers is to assist the local administration.
• During the pandemic, the volunteers assumed the role of frontline workers by way of participating in screening hotspots and distributing food for the needy.
• Before the Covid outbreak, a large number of DCD personnel were deployed as marshals in public buses to ensure safety of women.

Doesn’t the role of DCDs overlap with that of home guards?

• In some ways, yes.
• However, in Delhi, Directorate of Civil Defence was carved out of the Directorate of Home Guards through a 2009 notification issued by the then Lieutenant Governor.
• In a city like Delhi, which is not only a metropolitan city but also serves as national capital, it is mandatory that the organizations like Civil Defence must be strengthened to face the problems of terrorism and disaster inch to inch i.e., from earthquake to collapse of buildings.

How are civil defence volunteers recruited?

• Recruitment drives are carried out from time to time by the Delhi government.
• Anyone aged above 18 years with primary level educational qualification can apply. In most cases, those who have passed Class 8 are preferred.
• The candidates found eligible are made to undergo a week-long basic training course. At later stages, specialised training is also imparted.
• A person who intends to apply must also be a citizen of India or a “subject of Sikkim or Bhutan or Nepal”, according to the Act.

Why does it say ‘subject’ of Sikkim?

• The language, which state governments across the country continue to use in laying down recruitment rules for civil defence volunteers, is a verbatim reproduction of the Civil Defence Regulations, framed under the Civil Defence Act, 1968.
• While the Act, through a gazette notification dated September 8, 1975, was extended to cover Sikkim, which became a part of India on May 16, 1975, the regulations pertaining to the eligibility conditions remain unamended, which is why governments continue to use the same language.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/who-are-civil-defence-volunteers-new-delhi-covid-response-7263913/

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