On the recommendation of 2nd
Administrative Reforms Commission contained in its 3rd Report titled
“Crisis Management from Despair to Hope” regarding introduction of “Disaster
Management” as a subject in ‘Management and Public Administration’, the
University Grants Commission(UGC) constituted an Expert Committee consisting of
subject experts in Disaster Management. The Expert Committee framed the
syllabus for an optional paper on Disaster Management at the Undergraduate
level and syllabus for a short-term training course for UG teachers to be used
by Academic Staff Colleges. The Commission considered the report of the Expert
Committee on Disaster Management and approved the introduction of an optional
paper on Disaster Management at the Undergraduate level across the
universities/colleges. The Commission further decided that Disaster Management
be introduced as one of the topics in Orientation and Refresher Courses offered
by the Academic Staff Colleges. The Indira Gandhi
National Open University(IGNOU) is also running
various courses in Disaster Management at Post Graduate and Doctoral level
programmes.
Similarly, the Central Board of
Secondary Education (CBSE) has also introduced the topic of Disaster Management
as a part of the school curriculum in Social Science.
The UGC has provided financial
assistance of Rs.467.04 lakh to the Pondicherry
University for starting M.Sc. course in Coastal Disaster Management at its Jawaharlal
Nehru Rajkeeya Mahavidyalaya
(JNRM) Campus, Port Blair. Further, the UGC is also implementing a scheme of
providing assistance to universities and colleges for overcoming damages caused
by natural calamities/disastrous as a part of the general development
assistance. The quantum of assistance under the scheme depends on the nature of
calamities and availability of funds. The damages/losses are ascertained based
on the recommendations of the District Magistrate/Commissioner of the affected
district. The financial assistance is on sharing basis in the ratio of 75% by
UGC and 25% by the concerned State Government. During the XI Plan period, UGC
released an amount of Rs.500 lakh to Pondicherry
University for the damage caused by the recent Thane Cyclone which hit
Pondicherry on 30.12.2011. UGC has also provided grants to the following
colleges under the scheme:
1.
ADM College, Nagapattinam(Tamil Nadu) : Rs.33,60,000/-
2.
TBML College, Porayar (Tamil Nadu) : Rs.69,20,000/-
3.
Periyar
Arts College, Cuddalur(Tamil Nadu): Rs.54,92,000/-
4.
Presidency College,
Chennai(Tamil Nadu): Rs.1,42,00,000/-
No separate provision has been made
for the Andhra Pradesh. However, the universities and colleges of Andhra
Pradesh are also covered under the scheme of providing assistance for
overcoming damages caused by natural calamities/disasters.
This information was given by the Minister of
State for Human Resource Development, Dr. Shashi Tharoor in Rajya Sabha today.
BK/VSB/RS