India, Aug. 28 -- The Centre has issued detailed guidelines to states and union territories for raising, equipping, operationalising and training within the next five years, state disaster response forces (SDRFs), with preference to be given to Agniveers and NCC certificate holders for direct recruitment and 15% of the openings reserved for women.

The units will be modelled on the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to deal with the natural and man-made disasters.

The amended disaster management act, 2025, cleared by the Parliament last year, mandates every state and UT to have a specialised SDRF to deal with the disasters.

The latest guidelines, issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in June this year, but mad...