Garhwal Post Bureau
ALMORA, 1 Aug: On the occasion of Independence Day, Garvita Bhakuni of Lower Mall Road, Almora has been selected to represent Uttarakhand at the prestigious At Home Reception to be hosted at Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 15. Garvita, a young disaster‑Mitra cadet of the National Cadet Corps (NCC), is among the five cadets chosen from across the country for this honour. Alongside Uttarakhand, one cadet each from Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland will participate in the ceremony.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday congratulated Garvita on her achievement and described it as a recognition of the service spirit, discipline and commitment of Uttarakhand’s youth towards disaster management. He said that in any disaster situation, the community is the first responder, and if the local youth are trained, relief and rescue operations can be carried out more effectively, swiftly and safely. He claimed that the State government is linking young people with the disaster management system so that they can assist society during crises and play a vital role in reducing disaster risk. He emphasised that in a disaster‑prone state like Uttarakhand, a strong network of trained youth volunteers will prove extremely useful in meeting future challenges and in developing a culture of disaster safety.
Secretary, Disaster Management and Rehabilitation, Vinod Kumar Suman informed that under the Youth Disaster Mitra scheme operated with the support of the National Disaster Management Authority, 4,310 youths are being trained in Uttarakhand. These include volunteers from NCC, NSS, Meri Yuva Bharat and Bharat Scouts and Guides. He said that so far around 2,700 youths have been trained in disaster management, search and rescue, first aid, evacuation, emergency response, community awareness and disaster risk reduction. The objective of the scheme is to prepare a capable volunteer network that can spread awareness before disasters, assist the administration during relief and rescue operations, and play an active role in rehabilitation and community support afterwards.
Expressing her feelings, Garvita Bhakuni said that representing Uttarakhand at the At Home Reception in Rashtrapati Bhavan is a matter of immense pride and honour for her. She stated that the training received as a young disaster‑mitra has given her confidence and a sense of responsibility to serve society. She pledged to continue working with full dedication in the field of disaster management and public service and to inspire other youths to join the campaign.
