National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) raising day

In news- Recently, the Prime Minister lauded the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on its raising Day, which is annually marked on January 19.

About NDRF-

It is a specialized, multi-skilled, humanitarian force in India, which has been playing a crucial role in the country’s disaster management and community awareness for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).
It was constituted in 2006 with 8 Battalions “for the purpose of a special response to a threatening disaster situation or disaster” under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The successive natural calamities from 1990 to 2004 led to the enactment of the Disaster Management Act on December 26, 2005.
The Act has statutory provisions for the constitution of the NDRF for the purpose of specialized response to natural and man-made disasters.
In the beginning, the personnel of NDRF were deployed for routine law and order duties also.
In a meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority ( NDMA) with the Prime Minister on October 25, 2007 it was decided to make NDRF a dedicated force for disaster response related duties, under the unified command of DG NDRF.
Presently it works under the National Disaster Management Authority (Headed by PM) and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
NDRF is equipped and trained to handle a range of difficulties, from borewell accidents to chemical, biological and radioactive emergencies.
At present, the NDRF consists of 15 battalions from the BSF, CISF, CRPF, ITBP, SSB and Assam Rifles.
These NDRF battalions are located at 16 different locations in the country based on the vulnerability profile of the country and to cut down the response time for their deployment at disaster sites.
Each battalion has 18 self-contained specialist search and rescue teams of 45 personnel each including engineers, technicians, electricians, dog squads and medical/paramedics.
In a first, the NDRF inducted a batch of 100 women disaster combatants and rescuers in 2021 and every NDRF battalion is sanctioned to have 108 women combatants.
The Director Generals of NDRF are IPS officers on deputation from Indian police organizations.