Even after the lapse of 12 years, covering Governments both under the Congress and BJP at the Centre, Indian agencies have failed to put in place structural mechanisms to assess biological threats as outlined by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in its 156-page report.
The 156-page guidelines for management of biological disasters formulated in July 2008 by the NDMA had envisaged the need for assessment of threat perceptions and intelligence inputs, including those emanating from biological terrorism.
Insiders in the security agencies now say that such surveillance mechanisms could have helped in early detection and mitigation of Covid-19 pandemic that emerged from Wuhan in China and also in checking the entry of foreign Tablighis as the initial spread in India was suspected to have been aggravated by the Tablighi Jamaat, thousands of whose overseas members carried the virus here after attending ijtema (religious congregation) in Malaysia.
A timely intervention through advanced intelligence could have saved the miseries on the health and economy fronts that have crippled due to the continuing spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, they conceded.
While Covid-19 was beginning to spread its tentacles in Wuhan and Tablighis were conducting ijltemas abroad, the Indian missions couldn’t properly assess the situation leading to delayed evacuation of Indians stranded in Wuhan and prevention of entry of Covid carriers into the country, the officials said.
“India needs to maintain the necessary level of epidemiological intelligence to pick up early warning signals of emerging and re-emerging diseases of epidemic/pandemic potential. This would also require advance knowledge of the activities of our adversaries in developing a potential BW (bio-warfare) ensemble) and its potential use during war and by terrorist outfits using available inhouse facilities to develop such weapons.
“A coordinated action plan of the intelligence agencies, MHA, MoH&FW and MoD (Ministry of Defence) will be developed and put in place to gather intelligence and
develop appropriate deterrence and defence strategies,” the guidelines had clearly spelt out the role of the intelligence agencies in gathering inputs on biological disasters.
“MHA Ministry of Home Affairs) is the nodal ministry for BT (bio-terrorism) and partners with MoH&FW (Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) in its management. MHA is responsible for assessing threat perceptions, setting up of deterrent mechanisms and providing intelligence inputs. MoH&FW will also provide the required technical support,” said the report titled National Disaster Management Guidelines: Management of Biological Disasters formulated by the NDMA that is headed by the Prime Minister as Chairman of the body.
The report further noted, “For implementing IHR (International Health Regulations) 2005, core capacity needs to be developed for surveillance, border control at ports and airports, quarantine facilities, etc,” the report had underscored.
In the foreword, the then Vice Chairman of NDMA General NC Vij had noted, “The spectre of pandemics engulfing our subcontinent and beyond poses new challenges to the skills and capacities of the Government and society.
The intent of these guidelines is to develop a holistic, coordinated, proactive and technology driven strategy and management of biological disasters through a culture of prevention, mitigation and preparedness to generate a prompt and effective response in the event of an emergency.”
The document contained comprehensive guidelines for preparedness activities, bio-safety and bio-security and others for containment of biological disasters including agro-terrorism and even stockpiling of essential medicines, masks and PPE kits right up to the Block level.
