Are we ready to tackle a Disaster ?

Nepal recently witnessed the most catastrophic Earth quake; recent estimates put the loss of life to 7,000. While this number could be much higher, what got me thinking was the swift appreciable response from the Indian government and whether we are really prepared to handle natural disasters.

India’s vast geographical area almost every year faces a natural disaster whether it is the cyclone on the eastern side or more recently, flash floods in Uttarakhand and Kashmir.

While we do have a National Disaster Relief Force, a statement by the Minister of Telecommunication left me bewildered on whether we have a communication strategy, evacuation strategy or a rehabilitation strategy to deal with natural disasters.

Arnab asked the minister whether private telecom operators have also reduced international call charges to Nepal. He responded by requesting telecom operators to reduce charges.

A similar conversation occurred between Arnab and the CEO of Indigo, where he asked Aditya Ghosh (CEO of Indigo), whether all airline operators were waiving change and cancellation charges and if they will  be carrying free payload of relief material. He too appealed to other airline operators.

So does India have a policy that mandates certain norms across the industry in case of a disaster? I don’t think so.

Disaster relief policy

India needs outline a disaster relief policy with clear guidelines and with the objective being of providing relief in a coordinated disciplined manner, at the hour of crisis we cannot have a discussion on whether call rates must be reduced, actions need to be predefined.

Few steps that the government can take


  1. Activate intra circle roaming – by this Indian subscribers can use any available Indian operator network regardless who their service provider is.                                                                                       
  2. Activate a disaster toll number – such as 100, the number cannot change with every calamity.                                                                                                                                                                     
  3. Essential goods and services act must kick in- it must be a criminal offence to excessively charge for essential goods and services.                                                                                                  
  4. The government must run an effective communication campaign with the objective, whom to contact and what form of media to follow be it PIB, PMO or any other handle on twitter, AIR or DD.

The policy must be restricted by a time-frame similar to an ordinance and should be re-promulgated as per the discretion of the Prime Minister Office.

I hope all stakeholders start discussing the above aspects so that we are better prepared.

Few links below where you can donate


Saurabh Seth


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