United for One: Role and Impact of Youth on Community Oriented Disaster Management Programmes in India

India as a society has witnessed a major transformation over time. With the growth in the forces of modernization in the 21^st century Indian society, there have emerged many diverse set of processes which are indicative of growth and development of the population. However, simultaneously, the forces of modernization due to its nature of over-utilization of resources have created a series of complexities both naturally and man-made which have ultimately emerged within India in the form of disasters.

From 1993 to 2017 - the Latur earthquake, the Odisha cyclone, the Uttrakhand floods or the Bihar floods - every event has had catastrophic effects. In light of such events, the state introduced various state and non-state sponsored initiatives aimed at recovery and rehabilitation of such disaster affected or disaster prone areas. However, the policies and programs have not turned out to be fruitful in the long term process.

Since, India is considered a demographic dividend, the government agencies have started to understand the importance of the youth’s participation in such disaster management programs and how they can help in complementing the overall development process by collaborating with the state both internally and externally for disaster management, recovery and rehabilitation.

The principle aim of this paper is to highlight how the state policies and programs are motivating the youth to engage in community based disaster management aimed at providing recovery and rehabilitation to the disaster affected areas. The paper will also highlight how the youth within India are incorporating different tools and techniques of media to engage with the issues of disaster management at a community level. The paper will also aim to highlight the future prospects as well as the challenges that such youth related policies and programs are offering and facing within India.