The 60th Civil Defense and Home Guard Raising Day-2022 was celebrated yesterday with due dignity in the state. The central programme to observe this day was organized at Manoranjan Debbarma Memorial Stadium at Arundhatinagar. Minister of Fire and Emergency Service Ram Prasad Pal, who was present as the chief guest visited the parade and read out the disaster preparedness pledge for all present at the Stadium. Volunteers from SDRF, Home Guard, Fire and Emergency Services Department and Civil Defense participated in the parade yesterday.
While discussing the significance of this day, Minister of Fire and Emergency Service Ram Prasad Pal paid tribute to all the Home Guard and Civil Defense personnel who lost their lives on duty. He said that members of the Civil Defense and Home Guards are working sincerely to deal with any kind of calamity in the state. The members and volunteers of these two forces are engaged in various tasks including maintaining general law and order, dealing with natural and man-made disasters, controlling vehicular traffic. He also said that if there is proper preparation of people from all levels of the society, it is possible to reduce the extent of damage during any disaster. Therefore, the state government is trying to sensitize the general public through seminars, workshops, disaster drills.
Speaking on the occasion, Principal Secretary of Revenue Department Puneet Agarwal said that from July 27, 2021, the activities of civil defense has been extended to all the districts of the state. At present there are about 2 thousand civil defense volunteers in the state. Director General of Police and Home Guard Commandant General Amitabh Ranjan also spoke on the occasion. Director of Civil Defense Anindya Kumar Bhattacharya read out the greetings of the President and the Governor on the occasion of Civil Defense Rasising Day and delivered the welcome address.
In the second phase of the programme, First, Second and Third prizes were awarded to No. 1 Platoon of SDRF, Fire and Emergency Services Department and No. 2 Platoon of Home Guard respectively for their excellence in parade. Moreover, certificates and mementos were handed over to 1 Civil Defense Volunteer and AAPDA MITRA each from 8 districts. Also disaster management exhibition and disaster response drills were held. On the occasion officers of different levels of the Defense Forces and students of different schools were present at the programme.
