India Country Profiles Update (2008)- Recent Development of Disaster Management System in India Government of India had had several institutional developments for disaster risk
management since 2005: Evolution of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) andState Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs), National Institute of Disaster Management(NIDM), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and their functions, roles andresponsibilities and scope of work vis-à-vis Nodal Ministries.

1. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of India
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headed by thePrime Minister of India, is the Apex Body for Disaster Management in India.
The setting up of the NDMA and the creation of an enabling environment
for institutional mechanisms at the State and District levels is mandated by
the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (http://nidm.gov.in/DM_act2005.pdf).
India envisions the development of an ethos of Prevention, Mitigation andPreparedness and will strive to promote a National resolve to mitigate the damage anddestruction caused by natural and man-made disasters, through sustained and collective
efforts of all Government agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations and People’s
participation, by adopting a Technology-Driven, Pro-Active, Multi-Hazard and Multi-Sectoral
Strategy for building a Safer, Disaster Resilient and Dynamic India.

2. National Institute of Disaster Management
The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) functions as the nodal centre for
Human Resource Development in the area of Disaster Mitigation and Response. It is apremier national organization working for human resource development at national level in
the area of disaster mitigation and management. The NIDM came into existence since
October 16, 2003 by a Government of India order upgrading the National Centre for Disaster
Management (NCDM) located in New Delhi, and established by the Ministry of Agriculture,
Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India, in March 1995.
The NIDM, in partnership with other research institutions has capacity development as oneof its major responsibilities, along with training, research, documentation and development ofa national-level information base. The NIDM networks with other knowledge-based
institutions and function closely, within the broad policies and guidelines laid down by the
NDMA, and assists in imparting training to trainers, DM officials, etc. It is also responsible forsynthesizing research activities. The NIDM is geared towards emerging as a ‘centre of
excellence’ at the national and international level.
The objectives of NIDM are as follows: To undertake quality research covering both natural and human induced disasters, with amulti-hazard approach To work as a National Resource Center for the central and state governments in the
country through effective knowledge management and sharing of best practices
 To professionalise disaster risk reduction and emergency management in India and otherneighboring countries by developing an independent cadre of professionally trained
emergency and mitigation managers.
 To promote formal training and education for disaster management in India and in theregion To build working partnerships with the Government, universities, NGOs, corporate
bodies and other national and international Institutes of eminence.



To link learning and action by building a synergy between institutions and professionals
in the sector.

[Organization Structure](a) Departments of Learning
The NIDM has broadly the following departments of learning: Department of Policy Planning Department of Mitigation
 Department of Reconstruction and Recovery
 Department of Emergency Preparedness and Response Department of Knowledge Management, IT and publication
All the above-mentioned departments would be addressing natural, human induced disasters.
Each department will have different centers which would be addressing different disasters
such as earthquake, flood, cyclone, drought and human induced disasters so that multihazard approach could be adopted .All the departments would work in close coordination
with each other. Each department would undertake training, research, networking anddocumentation activities as part of the mandate.
Department of Policy Planning would be interacting with all the departments and would
work on policy research along with the concerned sectors. Also, independent research would
be conducted to address cross cutting themes such as Gender, development planning,organizational reforms, Insurance risk financing etc. the department would help the states indeveloping the policy framework and institutionalizing learning.
Department of Mitigation would try and create a culture of preparedness and mitigation
with a multi hazard approach through quality research, documentation and training acrossvarious stakeholders and institutions
Department of Reconstruction and Recovery would try and build on the existing
resources and skills and reorient the stakeholders in various approaches to reconstruction
strategy
Department of Emergency preparedness and Response would work towards building
professionalism in responding to disaster situations by cutting down response time bybuilding efficient and effective systems
Department Of Training, Knowledge Management and Publications would aim atdeveloping a knowledge hub including a knowledge bank. This network would be linked withinternational networks, i.e., Prevention Consortium, Relief Web, and Global Disaster
Information Network. The department would document various disasters and manage thelibrary.
(b) Administration and Accounts Wing
 Administration
 Accounts
 Establishment-Stores, Purchase, Housekeeping/Maintenance Personnel PR/ Media Coordination(c) Management Committee of the Institute
A Management Committee looks after all Administrative and Financial matter related to theInstitute. A Management Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of theHome Secretary, Government of India with the flowering Members:
Secretary/ Special Secretary in charge of Disaster Management in the Ministry of Home
Affairs
 Joint Secretary (Disaster Management) and Central Relief Commissioner


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



Financial advisor (Home)
Joint Secretary dealing with Drought Management in the Department of Agriculture
An Officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Finance(Department of Expenditure) to be nominated by Secretary (Expenditure)
Executive Director, NIDM
The Management Committee may co-opt any other Member (s) with the approval of
the Home Secretary.

(d) Expert Committee of the InstituteTo provide technical advice and to consider the project proposals to be undertaken by theInstitute an Expert Committee has been constituted under the Chairmanship of theSecretary/Special secretary in charge of Disaster Management in the Ministry of Home
Affairs with the following Members: Joint Secretary (Disaster Management) and Central Relief Commissioner
 Financial advisor (Home) An Officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary from the Central Water Commission
and Department of Personnel & Training.
 An Officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary from the Department of Earthquake
Engineering.
 Joint Secretary dealing with Drought Management in the Department of Agriculture Three Relief Commissioners of the State Government to be nominated by the
Chairperson on annual rotation basis.
 Executive Director, NIDM
The Expert Committee may co-opt any other Member (s) as considered appropriate
depending on the specific projects proposed to be discussed in any particular meeting of theCommittee.

3. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)[Concept]
The Disaster Management Act has mandated the constitution of a Specialist Response
Force to a threatening disaster situation or a disaster. This Force functions under the
National Disaster Management Authority which has been vested with its control, direction
and general superintendence. This is a multi-disciplinary, multi-skilled, high-tech force for all
types of disasters capable of insertion by air, sea and land. All the eight battalions areequipped and trained for all natural disasters including four battalions in combating nuclear,biological and chemical disasters.
[Present Organizations]
Presently this Force is constituted of eight battalions, two each from the BSF, CRPF, CISF
and ITBP. Each battalion will provide 18 self-contained specialist search and rescue teamsof 45 personnel each including engineers, technicians, electricians, dog squads andmedical/paramedics. The total strength of each battalion will be approximately 1,158[Deployment]
These NDRF battalions are located at nine different locations in the country based on thevulnerability profile to cut down the response time for their deployment. During the
preparedness period/in a threatening disaster situation, proactive deployment of these forces
is carried out by the NDMA in consultation with state authorities.

4. Ministries Responsible for Various Categories of Disasters
DISASTERSMINISTRIES/DEPARTMENTS

Earthquakes and Tsunami
FloodsCyclonesDrought
Biological Disasters
Chemical Disasters
Nuclear Disasters
Air Accidents
Railway Accidents

MHA/Ministry of Earth Sciences/IMD
MHA/Ministry of Water Resources/CWC
MHA/Ministry of Earth Sciences/IMD
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Ministry of Atomic Energy
Ministry of Civil Aviation
Ministry of Railways

5. Approach to Disaster Management
Till recently, the approach to Disaster Management has been reactive and relief centric. A
paradigm shift has now taken place at the national level from the relief centric syndrome toholistic and integrated approach with emphasis on prevention, mitigation and preparedness.
These efforts are aimed to conserve developmental gains as also minimize losses to lives,
livelihood and property.
A typical Disaster Management continuum as shown below, comprising of six elements i.e.,Prevention, Mitigation and Preparedness in pre-disaster phase, and Response,
Rehabilitation and Reconstruction in post-disaster phase, defines the complete approach toDisaster Management.

6. National Disaster Management Framework (2004)
National Disaster Management Framework has been developed in 2004. See Annex 1 fordetails.

7. India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN)IDRN portal initiated by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India was launched in
September 2003 in collaboration with UNDP under the Government of India-UNDP Disaster
Risk Management (DRM) programme to systematically build up the India Disaster Resource
Network Inventory as an organized information system for specialist equipment and disaster
expertise for disaster response, so that disaster managers can identify the location of theresources and will be able to access it for disaster response with the minimum loss of time.
The on-line inventory clearly lists out sequential details on specific equipments, types, theirfunctions performed, human expertise in search and rescue operations and contact details of
expertise and suppliers for prompt mobilization. IDRN was designed as a web enabled
information system to provided updated inventory of related items every quarter, entered at
two levels i.e at district and state level. The portal has been hosted to the central server at
NIC National Information Centre, who is providing technical support to Ministry of Home
Affairs. The portal has an on-line dual accessible interface system for users from statedisaster management /relief & rehabilitation department officials (Relief Commissioners),
district administrators (District Magistrate/Collectors) and other state and district nodal
officers, corporate members and public who can browse the portal. The user can obtaincatalogued information as well as query based data and list of resources available at district
and state level.
The on line inventory user manual and details can be accessed at http://www.idrn.gov.in .
Technical support was extended by UNDP to systematically formulate the resource inventory
through an organized information system designed to collate and assimilate information from
authorities in 563 district and 35 state/union territories.

Annex 1: NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKINSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS
Agencies/sectors to be
Expected Outputs
Areas of intervention
involved and resource
linkages
Ministries/ Departments ofNodal agency for(i)Constitution of National Emergency
Health, Water Resources,
disasterManagement Authority with appropriate
management at the legal, financial and administrative powers. Environment and Forests,
Agriculture, Railways,
national level with(ii)Roles and responsibilities of theAtomic Energy, Defence,
appropriate systems NEMA:
Chemicals, Science &-Coordinating multi-hazard mitigation,
prevention, preparedness and response Technology, Rural
Development, Road
programmes.
Transport & Highways etc.
- Policies for disaster risk reduction andmitigation-Preparedness at all levels.
-Coordination of response-Coordination of post disaster relief andrehabilitation.
-Amendment of existing laws, procedures,instructions.
Creation of State
Departments ofDisasterManagement

Departments of Relief & Rehabilitation to
be re-designated as Department ofDisaster Management with enhanced
areas of responsibility to include
mitigation, prevention and preparedness

State Governments/ UTAdministration.

Setting up State
DisasterManagement
Authorities(i) State Disaster Management Authority
to be headed by the Chief Minister.
(ii) The Authority to lay down policies andmonitor mitigation, prevention andpreparedness as also oversee response.

Ministers for Agriculture,
Home, Disaster
Management, Water
Resources, Health, Road
& Transport, Civil
Supplies, Environment &Forests, Rural
Development, Urban
Development and Public
Health Engineering
Departments as Members.

DISASTER MITIGATION/PREVENTION
Agencies/sectors
involved
andlinkagestoberesource

Expected Outputs

Areas of intervention

Disaster
mitigation/prevention
to be mainstreamed
into the development
process.

(i) Each Ministry /Department which has a Ministries / Department ofrole in mitigation /prevention will make
Govt. of India / State
appropriate outlays for schemes
Governments /UT
addressing mitigation/prevention
Administration(ii) Where there is a shelf of projects/schemes, projects / schemes contributing
to mitigation to be given a priority.
(iii) Wherever possible schemes/projects
in areas prone to natural hazards to be sodesigned as to contribute to mitigation,and preparedness.
(iv) Projects in vulnerable areas/areas
prone to natural hazards to be designed
to withstand natural hazards.
Techno-legal regime(i) regular review of building codes and its Bureau of IndianStandards/Ministry of urban
dissemination
Development(ii) construction in seismic zones III, IV
State Urban Development
and V to be as per BIS codes/National
Department / Urban Local
Building Codes.
BodiesState Urban Development(iii) Construction in areas vulnerable toDepartment / Urban Local
cyclones to be so designed as toBodieswithstand the wind hazard as per BIS
codes/National Building Codes.
State Urban Development(iv) Comprehensive review and
Department / Urban Local
compliance ofBodies- Town and Country Planning Acts
-Development Control Regulations
State Urban Development-Planning and Building Standards
Department / Urban Local
Regulations
Bodies(v)Put in place appropriate technoState Governments
financial regime(vi)Capacity enhancement of Urban Local
Bodies to enforce compliance of technolegal regimes

Land-use Planning
and Zoning
regulations(i) Legal framework for Land-use planning Ministry of Urban
and zoning regulations to be reviewed.
Development(ii) Zoning regulations to be enforced.
Department of Land
Resources[MORD]
Ministry of Environment andForests[GOI]
State Governments

Plan schemes forState Governments. to formulate Plan
vulnerability reduction Schemes and submit to Planningand preparedness.
Commission

State Governments

LEGAL/POLICY FRAMEWORKExpected Outputs

Areas of intervention

Agencies/sectors to be
involved and resource
linkages

DisasterManagement to be(i) Bill to be drafted.
listed in List – III –(ii) Bill to be brought before Parliament[Concurrent List] ofSeventh Schedule to
the Constitution

Ministry of Home Affairs/
Ministry of Law (Legislative
Department)

State Disaster
Management Acts

Ministry of Home Affairs
State Governments

Model Act to be circulated to the States.

National Policy on
DisasterManagement

States to enunciate
Policy on Disaster
Management(i) Mainstreaming disaster management
into planning and development process.
(ii) Mandate safe construction.
(iii) Coordinated action by all relevant
Departments as per policy(i) Mainstreaming disaster management
into planning and development process.
(ii) Mandate safe construction.
(iii) Coordinated action by all relevant
Departments as per policy

Ministry of Home Affairs,
Ministry of Finance,
Planning Commission,
Ministry of Environment &Forests, Rural
Development, Urban
Development and otherrelevant Ministries to be
consulted.
State Governments

Amendment of existing relief
codes/scarcity codes/famine codes toincorporate mitigation, preparedness andplanning measures at all levels from
community to State, constitution ofState Disaster
Emergency Support Teams /DisasterState Governments
Management Codes Management Teams /Committees /State
Disaster Management Authorities,
delegation of administrative and financial
powers to disaster incident managers
etc, protocol to update the inventory of
resources and plans,

PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
Expected Outputs

Areas of intervention

Agencies/sectors to be
involved and resource
linkages

National Emergency
Response Force/
Specialist Response
teams(i) Designation of units for conversion
into Specialist Response Teams.
(ii) Designation of training centres.
(iii) Training of trainers.
(iv) Procurement of equipment(v) Training of teams.

Ministry of Home Affairs
Central Industrial Security
Force/ Indo-Tibetan
Boarder Police/ Border
Security Force/ Central
Reserve Police Force

Specialized
Response Teams at
State level(i) Designation of units for conversion
into Specialist Response Teams.
(ii) Designation of training centres.
(iii) Training of trainers.
(iv) Procurement of equipment using
CRF resources(v) Training of teams.

State Department ofDisasterManagement/State Home
Department
State Police Traning
College/State Fire Training InstituteNATIONAL NETWORK OF EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTERS [NNEOCs]
Expected Outputs Areas of intervention

Agencies/sectors to be
involved and resource
linkages

Setting up
Emergency
Operations
Centre[EOC] at
National level

Central Public Works
Department
Department for Central
Public Works
Ministry of Home Affairs

State level EOC(i) Multi- hazard resistant construction.
(ii) Communication system linkages.
(iii) Mobile EOCs for on-site disaster
information management(i) Multi- hazard resistant construction.
(ii) Communication system linkages.
(iii) Mobile EOC for on-site disastermanagement information

State Governments

District level EOC (i) Multi- hazard resistant construction.
(ii) Communication system linkages.

State Governments

Putting Incident
Command
System in Place(i) Designate nodal training centres.
(ii) Putting in place protocols/SOPs for
Incident Command System.

Ministry of Home Affairs/
Department of Personal
and Training/
Lal Bahadur Shastri
National Academy of
Administration / State
Governments/
Administrative Training
Institutes

Emergency
Support FunctionPlan(i) epartments/agencies which perform
emergency support functions to draw up
ESF plans, constitute teams, and set apartresources in advance so that post-disaster
response is prompt.

Central Government
Ministries/ Departments
State Governments

India Disaster
Resource
Network(i) A web enabled GIS-based resource
inventory listing out all the necessary
resources for emergency response
available at the district and State level
throughout the country so that resources
can be mobilized at short notice.
(ii) Set up servers, draw up and install
programmes, input data.
(iii) Half yearly updating

Ministry of Home Affairs
State Governments.

Communication(i) Draw up communication plan.
linkages which will (ii) Obtain sanctions.
be functional even (iii) Put communication network in place.
post-disaster.

Ministry of Home Affairs
Directorate Coordination of
Police WirelessState Governments

Regional
Response
Centres(i) Identify location of Regional Response
Centres.
(ii) Identify caches of equipment required.
(iii) Obtain sanctions.
(iv) Put teams and caches of equipments inplace.

Ministry of Home Affairs
Border Security Force/
Indo-Tibetan Border Police/Central Reserve Police
Force/ Central Industrial
Security Force

Training in(i)Draw up capsules.

Ministry of Home Affairsresponse to be(ii) Train trainers
made a part oftraining curriculumof CPMFs andState Police
Forces.
State Disaster
Management
Plans

District Disaster
Management
Plans

Block Disaster
Management
Plans

State Governments(i) Plan to be drafted under the supervision State Governments/ Stateof the Chief Secretary.
Disaster Management(ii) Plan will include mitigation,
Authorities
preparedness and response elements.
(iii) The plan will be multi-disciplinary to be
drawn up in conjunction/consultation with all
relevant Departments concerned with
mitigation, preparedness and response.
(iv) Plan to be updated once a year.
(i) To be drawn up under the supervision ofDistrict Magistrate/Collector and to include
mitigation, preparedness and response.
State Governments/ State(ii) Emergency Support Functions by
Disaster Management
various Departments to be included.
(iii) To be drawn up in consultation with all Authorities
relevant Departments.
(iv) District inventory of resources to be
maintained.
(i) To be drawn up under the supervision ofDistrict Magistrate/Collector and to include
mitigation, preparedness and response.
(ii) Emergency Support Functions by
various Departments to be included.
(iii) To be drawn up in consultation with all
relevant Departments.
(iv) District inventory of resources to be
maintained.

State Governments/ State
Disaster Management
Authorities / Block
Development
Administration

State Governments/
Community based (i) Enhance community capacity in multiDistrict Administration/
mitigation,
hazard prone States and districts toPanchayati Raj Institution
preparedness and respond effectively to disasters-special/Urban Local Bodies
response plans
attention to be given to empowering andcapacity building of vulnerable communities
and groups including women.
(ii) Set up and train village/ Panchayat (forrural areas) and wards/municipal
council/corporations (for urban areas)
disaster management committees anddisaster management teams e.g.
-Identification of safe shelters andmanagement-Stockpiling of relief materials etc.
-early warning dissemination-first-aid and counselling-assist in search and rescue(iii) such plans to be made integral toannual development plan of local bodies(iv) mitigation plans of the community andPanchayats to receive priority under various

rural development schemes administered
by Panchayats and Urban local bodies
EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS
Expected Outputs

Areas of intervention

Agencies/sectors to be
involved and resource
linkages(i) State of the art
sensors to be set up.
(i) IMD/CWC to carry out a review of(ii) Hazard
monitoring, tracking sensors available and draw up plans forstrengthening the system.
and modelling.
(ii) Models to be updated to improveprediction accuracy.

Indian Meteorological
Department/ Central Water
Commission/ National
Centre for Medium Range
Weather Forecasting

Warning Protocols

Ministry of Home Affairs/
State Governments /Indian
Meteorological
Department/ Central Water
Commission/ National
Remote Sensing Agency/
Information andBroadcasting/
Doordarshan/ All India
Radio(i) Warning protocols to be user friendly.
(ii) Warning to be communicated as
quickly as possible to theStates/districts/community.
(iii) Protocols should be simple tounderstand.
(iv) Districts to set up protocols forcommunication of early warning to thecommunity.
(v) Panchayats/local bodies to be used
for early warning communication.
vi) Communication linkages for early
warning.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT & CAPACITY BUILDING

Expected Outputs

Areas of intervention

Agencies/sectors to be
involved and resource
linkages

Training for services (i) Training needs analysis/ Human/cadres/ agencies
Resource Development Plan
involved in(ii)Drawing up of capsule courses for
mitigation,
training.
preparedness or(iii) Training of trainers.
response.
iv) National Institute for Disaster
Management to be strengthened.
(iv)Setting up /strengthening training
institutions in state faculties of Disaster
Management in Administrative Training
Institutes

Ministry of Home Affairs
State Governments

Training of IAS/IPS,State Administrative
Service
Officers/State
Police.

Administrative Training
Institutes /State Institutesof Rural Development andDistrict Institutes of
Education and Training to(i) Training curriculum for IAS/IPS andState Administrative Service
Officers/State Police Officers to include
capsules in disaster management.
(ii)Training of Block/Village level staff

(iii) Training of PRIs.

be used.

State Governments
Curriculum for undergraduate engineering
All India Council for
and B.Arch courses to be amended toTechnical Education
Engineers/Architects include mitigation technologies in general
Indian Institute ofand elements of earthquake engineering
Technologies
in particular
Professional bodies
Include crisis prevention, response and
Health Professionals recovery and trauma management in the
MBBS curriculum.

Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare
Medical Council of India

Youth organisation

Ministry of Youth andSports
Ministry of Defence

NCC, NSS, Scouts & Guides to include
disaster response, search and rescue intheir orientation/training programmes.

MasonsSchool curriculum

Mason training for safe construction

Ministry of Rural
Development/ Department
of Urban Development/
State Governments

To include disaster awareness.

Central and State Boardsof Education

National mass
media campaign for Design and develop a communication
strategy for awareness campaign
awareness
generation
Use audio, visual and print medium toimplement awareness campaign
Development of resource materials on
mitigation, preparedness and response
Non-government
community-basedorganizations
involved inawareness
generation andcommunity
participation indisaster
preparedness andmitigation planning
Corporate sectors
involved inawareness
generation anddisaster
preparedness andmitigation planning(i) Facilitate network of non-govt
community based organizations at
national/State/district levels(ii) Co-opted into the planning process
and response mechanisms at all levels

Sensitisation, training and co-opting
corporate sector and their nodal bodies inplanning process and response
mechanisms

Inter-state(i) Arrangements for inter-State sharing of
arrangements forresources to be incorporated in State
sharing of resources Disaster Management Plans
during emergencies (ii) Inter-state exposure visits to be
and lessons learnt
facilitated for learning from theexperiences of other States

Ministry of Home Affairs/State Governments
Ministry of Home Affairs/State Governments
Ministry of Home Affairs

Ministry of Home Affairs/National Institute forDisaster Management
Ministry of Home Affairs/National Institute forDisaster Management

Ministry of Home Affairs/
Federation of Indian
Industries

Ministry of Home Affairs/
State Governments
Ministry of Home Affairs/
State Governments

RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Expected Outputs

Areas of intervention

Institutionaliseknowledge andlessons learnt in
the process ofworking on thenational roadmap(i) Assessment and evaluation of ongoingprogrammes and activities
regular documentation of key lessons(ii) Establish India Disaster Resource
Network as knowledge portal to pool andexchange information and knowledge
among all concerned institutions andorganization

Develop national(i)Systematic inventorization of disasters
disasters database (ii)Trend analysis and reporting

Agencies/sectors to be
involved and resource
linkages
Ministry of Home Affairs
State Governments /National Institute forDisaster Management
Ministry of Home Affairs

National Institute forDisaster Management

Promote researchin national, state
and regional
institutions in theareas of disasterrisk reduction

Ministries / Departments(i)mitigation technologies for housing,of Central Government
roads and bridges, water supply andsewerage systems, power utilities,(ii)cost-effective equipments for
specialized rapid response andpreparedness in--temporary and transition shelter in postdisaster situations--search and rescue equipments--provision of drinking water, emergency
health and sanitation in post-disastersituations-post-trauma stress management and care(iii) promote participation of corporate
sector in finding out technologicalsolutions for disaster risk reduction

Plan schemes forvulnerability
reduction andpreparedness.

State Governments. to formulate Plan
Schemes and submit to Planning
Commission

State Governments