INDIA could soon be a part of the United Nations (UN) mandated international disaster rescue operations as the country’s federal contingency force, NDRF, is expected to obtain a globally recognised standardisation later this year, a top ranking official has said.

 

The authorisation will be done by the Switzerland-headquartered INSARAG (or the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group) which is a network of more than 90 countries and organisations under the UN umbrella to deal with urban search and rescue related issues. “Just like we have the Bureau of Indian Standards in the country, the UN agency INSARAG standardises disaster response teams across the world.

 

It is an international gold standard,” NDRF Director General S N Pradhan told PTI in an interview. “We are very much in thick of it and hopefully we will get the standardisation in 2021.” It will be a matter of great prestige for India that its force is known as an international response force, the DG said here on Sunday.