Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 28: Civil defence is one of important pillars of a vibrant society where volunteers lend their time and energy for the welfare of people and impress others by their commitment and discipline.
This was stated by Director General of Police (DGP), Ashok Prasad, who is also Commandant General of Home Guards & Director Civil Defence, after inaugurating 6th Chief Wardens Civil Defence Conference here this morning.
In his inaugural address, Prasad said that Civil Defence (CD) is an important instrument of administration which can be harnessed in hour of distress. He said that constant training and development of skills is imperative to minimise the loss of life and property in any eventuality. He said that the role of CD volunteers need to be recognized by the society as it is the zeal and commitment of the volunteers, which many a times helped the administrative authorities to prepare for any catastrophic event to take preventive measures.
The DGP stressed that civil community needs to be prepared and kept alert in order to form the security surveillance by utilizing the services of CD personnel for crime control and disaster management. He emphasised for preparedness and extending help to those in acute distress during disasters and save human lives with courage and confidence.
Deliberating on the objectives of the one day conference, Prasad said that during the conference important functionaries of CD from across the state would discuss important issues and further requirements to make the Organization meet its objectives. He said that the conference would provide platform to the participants to deliberate on geophysical features of the state and its vulnerability to disasters, besides pre-hospital management of victims of disasters and fire fighting measures.
Speaking about the achievements, the DGP said that the Organization has extended its activities from town centric to rural areas. Enrolment of wardens and volunteers has been taken up in the rural areas also, while 23,535 CD volunteers were trained in basic skills like fire fighting, first aid and rescue, besides 174 awareness camps were organized during the past one year and 47 rescue operations were conducted at different places in the state, he added.
Prasad stressed upon the organizers and participants to come up with their valuable suggestions and proposals which could help in strengthening the civil defence organization in the State. He said that every support will be provided to the organization to make it more effective and people friendly.
Earlier, in his welcome address, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Home-guards/Civil Defence and SDRF, Yoginder Koul, said that the conference would provide opportunity to sit together and discuss the things of concern and plan future strategies.
During the conference, several speakers gave a series of lectures on the role of civil defence in times of calamities. The speakers who deliberated on different topics during the conference included Prof. GM Bhat of Jammu University, Dr. Ranbushan from Health Services and RK Raina from Fire & Emergency Department.
Among others, the inaugural function was attended by MLC, Jehangir Mir, ADGP (Headquarters), SP Vaid, IGPs, AK Choudhary, Dr. KK Saini and PR Manhas, DIGs, Shyam Lal and Mubarak Ahmed Ganai, Staff Officer to ADGP HG, RS Manhas, SSP, Ghulam Sarwar Chouhan, Director Prosecution (PHQ), MA Pandit, Dy: Chief Warden, Jugal Sharma, Divisional Commandant Jammu, Vikas Gupta, DySPs, Dushant Sharma and SK Bakshi, Chief Wardens and CD volunteers and other police offices.