Community service has always been part and parcel of culture of Gujarat and community is always the first responder during any disaster. Training the community to effectively respond during a disaster would professionalize the response and reduce the impact of a disaster. Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority undertakes various capacity building activities to mitigate the impact of disasters. As part of such capacity building measures, GSDMA is now initiating a project - ‘Aapda Mitra’ on training of community volunteers in conducting basic search & rescue operations and to assist the district administration for effective disaster response. For successful implementation of this program it is planned that 6 Aapda Mitra would be trained from each District and Taluka. The fully residential training would be conducted at the 11 designated training centres of SDRF/SRPF. The duration of the training would be of 2 weeks. At the end of the training, they would be certified as ‘Aapda Mitra’ by GSDMA and also provided with an identity card for the same. The ‘Aapda Mitra’ shall remain present for assistance during any emergency.