About:

Community Response Network (CRN 101) is a simple course designed to give a student a basic understanding of disaster management and how government systems work in general.

 

Objective:

The objective of CRN 101 course is to educate and create awareness about various government systems involved in the mitigation of disaster management. It covers a brief introduction to various government systems and how these systems coordinate together a

Times of disasters.

Rural Area

The smallest unit within a Panchayat System is a ward. From each ward, an individual is elected by the people in the Panchayat through the Panchayat elections and is known as “Ward Member”.

The ward members from various Wards report to a Panchayat Committee. The Panchayat committee also has appointed members along with the elected members. The Panchayat Committee has a President (Elected Member) and Secretary(government appointed member) and various standing committees (eg: Standing Committee on health, welfare, finance).It is the Local Self Governing body within a community. 33% of all government funds are spent through the Panchayat Committees. An average Panchayat gets around 2 Crores of funding per annum. This fund is spent on various projects under the different standing committees with the consent of the Grama Sabha (Grama Sabha is the aggregate of all members in the electoral rolls within the panchayat/ward)

The Panchayat System is a 3-Tier system. There is Grama Panchayat, above which is the Block Panchayat. Each Block Panchayat again has a president and a secretary. There are 14 Block Panchayats in Ernakulam and 82 Grama Panchayats under them.

 

Urban Areas

The Municipalities (Municipals Councils/Nagar Palika/Nagar Palika Parishad ) and Corporations (Municipal Corporations) are the local government in India that administer urban areas with a population of more than 25 thousand and more than 10 lakhs respectively. Some states in India have City Councils(Nagar-Panchayat) as an additional division. The area administered by a municipality or corporation is divided into territorial constituencies known as wards. Members are elected to the wards committee on the basis of adult franchise for a term of five years. These members are known as councillors. The number of wards is determined by the population of the city.

The municipalities and corporations are dictated by the state legislature in the area. Hence the administrative set up within each state may differ from each other.

For example in Kerala, each municipality has councillors elected from each ward.Among these councillors, a Chairperson and a deputy chairperson is elected.

While the corporations are divided into divisions. Each division elects representatives called Councillors. These Councillors are headed by a Mayor, a Deputy Mayor and a Secretary appointed by the state. 

The Municipalities and Corporations are independent bodies. They have their own department of revenue, health and they have powers to collect taxes. Municipality is headed by the Municipal Chairperson while the corporation is headed by the Mayor.

The administrative functions of these Local Self Government bodies are done by the respective Secretaries, while the Presidents are the elected representatives.Each Panchayat will have at least 20 people working under the Secretary alone, in the payroll of the Panchayat. This money comes from the tax (like building tax) collected by the Panchayat. This mechanism is the same for Corporations.

One of the major drawbacks of the system is that most people working at these corporation and municipality offices don't really belong to that corporation or municipality. Only around 5% of them would be locals. Because most of these employees are not part of the local community, they may have very little understanding of the issues of the community with a “community spirit”. Similarly, as we move higher in the hierarchy, there is increasing disconnect between the real issues faced by the community and the decision maker’s understanding of these issues.

By strengthening our ward level, panchayat level and district level systems, the overall system dramatically improves for the local communities where we live. Logo of CoronaSafe Network Knowledge Base

 

Health system

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                The public-health care system in India is based on a three-tiered health-care system to provide preventive and curative health care in rural and urban areas. It consists of sub-centres, primary health centres and community health centres.

       Let us take a look at the public health care system of Kerala. The existing healthcare structure in Kerala is a well structured and decentralized system that works in collaboration with other departments at various levels of hierarchy.

Understanding of this well planned structure is critical to identify the possible lacunae and create plans to improve our existing public health system.

The Department of Health is divided into two main branches.The Director of Medical Education is the first branch responsible for the functioning of various medical colleges in the state.

Similarly an equally efficient branch is Director of Health Services which has multiple levels of hospitals to cater to various levels of population.

The Director of Health Services has a District Medical Office (DMO) in every district.

Under the DMO, each district will have a General hospital, Taluk hospitals, Primary Health Centers (PHC) and Sub centers. Community Health Centres (CHC) exist between the taluk hospitals and the PHCs.

All the various branches of health services at multiple levels work with the Local Self Government Departments(LSGD).

The LSGD system also has a detailed structure to ensure smooth functioning. It is important for every individual in the community to understand their respective Local Self Governments.

 

Revenue system 

In pre-independent India, there was one person who was in charge of collecting tax revenues from the public. This person was the “Collector” in the “Revenue” Department.

The taxation system in India is such that the taxes are levied by the Central Government and the State Governments. Certain minor taxes are collected by the local authorities too.

The Revenue system functions alongside the Local Self Governments.

At Panchayat Level, there is the village officer who has authority to collect various taxes within the panchayat and is also the custodian of all land-title records within the panchayatt Taluk Level there is a Tahsildar and higher still in the line of hierarchy is the Revenue divisional officer. The District Collector heads the revenue system within a district in addition to many other administrative responsibilities including that of the District Magistrate.

 

Law enforcement: The constitution of India delegates the maintenance of law and order primarily to the states and territories. All senior officers in the state police forces and federal agencies are members of the Indian Police Service (IPS) 

Consider the example of Kerala to understand the law enforcement system within a state. Kerala State Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Kerala with its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram (capital city of Kerala).

The head of Kerala police is the State Police Chief and is of the rank of Director General of Police. State Police Chief is assisted by police officers of the rank of the Additional Director General of Police. Together, they manage a multitude of areas such as Law & Order, Crimes, Intelligence, Traffic, Armed Police Battalions, Training, Coastal Policing, Police Head Quarters and State Crime Records Bureau.They are appointed by the Cabinet from the Indian Police Service. Further down the hierarchy are the officers of the rank of Inspector General of Police. The districts are headed by District Police Chiefs who are usually in the rank of Superintendent of Police. There are exceptions in the police districts of Thiruvananthapuram city and Kochi city where the heads are of the rank of Inspector General of Police and the police district of Kozhikode which is headed by an officer of the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police.

Division of the state:

Kerala is divided into two police zones, named North Zone and South Zone which are headed by IGPs.The North Zone is further divided into Kannur Range and Thrissur Range while the South Zone is divided into Ernakulam range and Thiruvananthapuram range. Each of these Ranges is headed by officers of the rank of Deputy Inspectors General.There are 19 police districts in Kerala. This is divided into 5 Commissionarates and 14 police districts. The City Commissionarates are assisted by Deputy Commissioner of Police of the rank of Deputy Inspector Generals of Police/ Superintendents of Police. All District Police officers are assisted by Additional Superintendents of Police and ACs/DySPs are designated as Sub Divisional Police Officers, each in charge of a Sub Division. A Sub Division is further divided into Police Station areas, each of which is under an Inspector of Police with Sub Inspectors, Additional Sub Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables. Some Police Stations have outposts attached to them, each of which is manned by a Head Constable assisted by some Constables.Every state has a General Diary which records the day to day activities happening at the station. All complaints that are filed as well as details of day to day updates on investigations are recorded here. The charge of this General Diary is with the Head Constable.

Women in Police

It is mandatory that each police station has women police officers.The state also has an active Women Cell which is dedicated to the welfare of women. They look into issues pertaining to the atrocities against women in Kerala. Apart from this, they conduct self-defense training classes, women issue awareness classes etc.The response of the Police to a crime.

As and when the police get any information about the commission of a crime, a First Information Report (FIR) is recorded. This commences the investigation. After investigating the facts and circumstances thoroughly, the investigating officer studies all evidence and statements and if the accused is identified, then a charge sheet is filed against the accused before the court. The accused may or may not be in police custody or judicial custody. The court examines the case and evidence and passes a verdict.

Kerala Police is South Asia's first police force to adopt community policing.

The Janamaithri Suraksha Project is an initiative of the Government of Kerala, which aims to bridge the gap between the general public and the police through the participation of citizens in police duties. It is a method of policing which comes a long way from the traditional style. Janamaithri police seek cooperation and understand the needs of the community.Janmaithri police evolved from the idea that policing in a democracy should reflect the democratic rights of every citizen. Police should consult citizenry on their needs rather than forcing laws on them. The concept of policing needs to develop from a symbol of authority to a symbol of freedom. The ‘fear syndrome’ defeats the goal of professional policing. The contact between the police and citizens should be one of mutual trust and cooperation.

A method used in Janamaithri Suraksha Project is the formation of a ‘People’s Committee’ whose members would be socially committed and responsible. Monthly meetings are held with the local community and a police officer, who is well versed with the working of community policing. The high level of literacy and better political and social awareness of the people in Kerala are conditions which are favourable for meaningful participation of members of the community in the meetings.Through this project, the general public and the police can engage in joint patrolling, ensure the safety of citizens, arrange programs for counselling, create schemes for a healthy and safe environment around educational institutions etc. By conducting regular meetings, citizens and police officers who are oriented towards serving society are brought together.

Janamaithri Suraksha Project was launched in 2008. A number of studies conducted in subsequent years suggest that JSP has had a positive influence on the community as well as the police personnel engaged in it.

Panchayat Level:

Each ward has a ward level team. At Panchayat level, this body is supervised by the Panchayat Monitoring Committee (LSG level monitoring committee), comprising of:-

• Panchatyat president

• Medical officer

•        ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme) Supervisor

•        CDS Chairperson

Each of these individuals are the direct supervisors of the 4 official members ward level team. Therefore, they do not sit in the Committee in their individual capacity but they sit as representatives of the system following the hierarchy.

To support them, there is the

• Village officer. The village officer has no hierarchical subordinate at a lower level than the panchayat. Village officer is part of the Revenue System. Therefore they have control over all the land, to collect taxes and enable transactions relating to land.

•          Police

•       KSEB Office

•         Water Authority

•      Education Department (Nodal officers of government schools)

•       Agriculture Officer.

   

  These are all independent bodies working alongside the Panchayat.

  Block Level:

  At the block level, we have:-

•  The Block President
•  Block Medical Officer
• CDPO (Child Development Program Officer)

·     

-Tahsildar

-Police

-Assistant. Engineer - KSEB

-Assistant. Engineer - Water authority etc

District Level:

Similarly, all corresponding officers at a district level form a committee here. There is the Zilla Panchayat President, ICDS district officer, District Medical Officer, Collector, RTO, Water Authority representative, Police etc.

Municipality and corporation:

The municipalities and corporations are also divided into Divisions. A division is bigger than a ward with almost 10 times the population. Each division again has a Rapid Response Team (RRT) with a Counsellor (instead of a ward member), ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker (usually more than 1, depending on the population), Anganwadi Worker and Area Development Society (ADS) by Kudumbashree.

Thus, the various departments of state government are intertwined along with Local Self Governments to create a strong decentralized system of working in Kerala. This decentralized system is what is working at the grassroots level to stop the pandemic from spreading beyond what we can control. rerer

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Rapid response team

How does the government system deal with Coronavirus spread within a Ward?

The CoronaVirus has not just affected our health as a population but has also managed to alter the behaviour of our whole community. It is important to learn how the community has evolved to deal with the CoronaVirus. While public gatherings are restricted, travelling is also discouraged.

It is the Ward level Team which at the face of this calamity is acting as the Rapid Response Team(RRT) that is given the responsibility to enforce this quarantine. The RRT is expected to maintain a line list (a list of all such persons with their necessary information and relevant dates).Because the RRT is part of the community there, they are expected to know the individuals or families living there. The team has to have surveillance over the 400 odd families in that community. If this job is done with care and precision, half the battle against Corona is won.

The RRT is expected to take daily updates from the people staying in home isolation and make sure that they are healthy and also that they have all facilities required for a comfortable stay.

If the person has any health issues, the ASHA worker must take action, report the same to higher authorities and get the person health support.

Because the people who form RRT are from the local area, they can call the persons in quarantine and have candid conversations about his well being.If there is any problem faced by a mother and child in quarantine, the Anganwadi worker is the person to tend to it.

If a person does not follow the rules laid out by the government, the RRT may report the same to the Panchayat. The panchayat has the support of the police and is empowered to enforce the quarantine.