Examine the role of local communities and local self-governments in disaster preparedness and response. Analyse policy and capacity-building gaps in empowering communities.

Question Understanding – Finding Information

Precise Syllabus Mapping: Disaster & Disaster Management. (GS Paper – III)

Marks and words limit:

• The marks-oriented approach to answering (10-mark, 150-word) questions in the question is to use Bullet Points (one idea per bullet point), Brainstorming, or a combination of both.
• The way to score good marks in questions worth (15 marks. 250 words) is to use the Heading and Subheading method while writing your answers.

Directive words:

• Examine → Explain roles with reasoning and examples
• Analyse → Identify gaps, causes and implications

Focal points of the questions:

• Role of local communities
• Role of local self-governments (LSGs)
• Policy and capacity gaps in community empowerment

Dos & Don’ts

Do for Maximum Marks

• Use Key terms: Community resilience, First responders, Decentralised governance, resilience, decentralisation, preparedness
• You can use Brainstorming idea: Preparedness → Response → Recovery (local level)
• Emphasise community-based disaster management
• Clearly distinguish roles of communities and LSGs
• Analyse policy and capacity gaps critically
• Maintain practical and solution-oriented tone

Don’t do these Common Mistakes

• Do not focus only on national agencies
• Avoid listing disasters without analysis
• Do not ignore capacity-building aspect
• Avoid turning it into GS-II decentralisation essay
• Don’t overuse case studies or data