MHA Organizes Civil Defence Exercise

1. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to conduct a Civil Defence Exercise across 244 Civil Defence Districts in the country.
2. Civil Defence Districts: These are districts considered vulnerable to enemy attacks due to their strategic and tactical importance.

Civil Defence Exercise

1. The Civil Defence Exercise is designed to assess how civilians and government systems respond during emergencies, such as war, missile attacks, aerial strikes, or disasters.
2. The exercise evaluates the operational effectiveness and coordination of various Civil Defence measures, including:
   1. Testing the effectiveness of air raid warning systems.
   2. Ensuring the operational readiness of Hotline or Radio Communication Links with the Indian Air Force.
   3. Assessing the functionality of control rooms.
   4. Training civilians and students to protect themselves in case of hostile attacks.
   5. Reviewing provisions for early camouflaging of vital installations and rehearsing evacuation plans.
3. The last similar drill was conducted before the 1971 India-Pakistan war.

Civil Defence Provisions in India

1. The Civil Defence Act, 1968 was passed after the India-China War (1962) and the India-Pakistan War (1965).
2. The Act provides measures to protect people, property, and places from hostile attacks (air, land, sea, or other sources).
3. It authorized the formation of Civil Defence Corps and the creation of rules and regulations for Civil Defence.