India’s civil defence system is set for a major capacity-building exercise, with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Indian Army beginning a pilot programme to train 600 Master Trainers who will later instruct 60,000 volunteers across 12 States and Union Territories. The announcement, issued on 23 October 2026 through the Directorate General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards (DGFSCDHG), places the armed forces’ training expertise at the centre of a wider preparedness drive.
What the pilot programme will do
Under the first phase, 50 Master Trainers from each participating State or Union Territory will attend a three-day specialised course at designated Indian Army training establishments. The training is scheduled to be completed by the second week of November 2026, according to the official statement.
The 12 participating jurisdictions are Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Training themes listed by the Ministry
The curriculum has been divided into three broad areas. The first, Threat Awareness, covers modern and hybrid warfare, drone awareness and air-raid threats. The second, Protection and Emergency Response, includes critical infrastructure protection, fire safety, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) awareness, casualty management, and search and rescue. The third, Communication and Coordination, focuses on emergency communication, cyber hygiene, digital resilience, civil-military coordination and incident command.
How the cascading model works
The programme uses a Master Trainer model. After completing the Army-led course, each of the 600 Master Trainers is expected to train 100 Civil Defence volunteers in their own State or Union Territory. The Ministry of Home Affairs said, “This cascading mechanism has the potential to extend specialised preparedness skills to 60,000 Civil Defence Volunteers across the 12 participating States/UTs, thereby significantly expanding the reach and impact of the initiative.”
Background and stated objective
The initiative is linked by the government to the vision outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address from the Red Fort on 15 August 2026, when he called for building a vibrant Civil Defence network with modern systems, technologies and contemporary preparedness capabilities.
According to the official release, the pilot is meant to improve the ability of Civil Defence personnel to respond to contemporary security threats, hostile situations and emergencies. It also aims to strengthen civil-military coordination and institutional preparedness by combining the Indian Army’s operational expertise with the existing Civil Defence volunteer framework.
Next steps
The Ministry has said that the outcome of the pilot phase will guide expansion to the remaining States and Union Territories in a phased manner. Multiple media outlets reported the same details from the official statement, including the pilot scale, training timeline, curriculum focus areas and the projected reach of 60,000 volunteers.
The government says the effort is intended to modernise India’s civil defence architecture so it can better handle hybrid threats, technological challenges and large-scale emergency response requirements.
