THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has decided to establish a Civil Defence Corps to carry out rescue operations during natural calamities. It will have a strength of 3.4 lakh volunteers -- one volunteer each for 100 people. The decision was taken in the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. People in the age group of 16 to 65 can join the corps.
A directorate will be constituted to manage the corps and a team of master trainers formed to train the volunteers, said a government statement. The team of 700 master trainers will be formed by January 15 and they will provide training to volunteers from April 1 to May 15 across the state. Volunteers can enlist for the service through online registration between January 10 and 31.
The directorate will consist of officers from the fire and rescue services, police, state disaster management authority, revenue department, local government department and National Service Scheme and National Cadet Corps.