Discuss the role of the Fifteenth Finance Commission and the Scheme for Expansion and Modernization of Fire Services in strengthening disaster preparedness at the State level.

Fire services appear in the Twelfth Schedule (Article 243W) as a municipal function. In practice, State fire departments run them, and many lack equipment and staff. The Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV-FC) and the scheme built on its advice shift the focus from relief after a disaster to funded preparedness before one.

Role of the Fifteenth Finance Commission

• Ring-fenced money for preparedness: fire services are funded from the Preparedness and Capacity-Building window of the NDRF. Preparedness gets its own money instead of whatever relief funds are left over [2].
• Money earmarked for fire services: XV-FC recommended ₹5,000 crore to expand and modernise State fire services [1].
• Federal lever: money tied to reforms lets the Centre raise standards in a State subject without overriding the States.

Role of the Scheme (MHA, July 2023)

• Co-financing: the Centre provides ₹5,000 crore and the States add ₹1,387.99 crore [1]. States pay a 25% share (10% for North-Eastern and Himalayan States), which gives them a stake in the projects [3].
• Balanced spending: 35% for expansion (new stations, training centres), 50% for modernisation (equipment, urban fire stations) and 15% for State-specific needs [3].
• Reward for reform: ₹500 crore goes to States that carry out legal and infrastructure reforms, such as modern fire-service laws [2].
• Accountability and reach: each instalment is released only after a Utilisation Certificate shows the earlier money was spent [3]. Proposals from all 28 States have been approved [4].

Limitations

• Slow delivery: only ₹1,798.20 crore (about 36%) had been released by 31 January 2026, yet the scheme was due to end in 2025-26 [4].
• Buys hardware, not safer settlements: most fires that hit the poor break out in dense informal settlements. These have flammable materials and lanes too narrow for fire tenders. UN-Habitat says upgrading housing and basic services in such settlements is what reduces this risk [5].
• Funding skips cities: the Constitution assigns fire safety to urban local bodies (ULBs), but the money goes to State fire departments.

Together, XV-FC's earmarked window and the MHA scheme have created a funded, reform-linked system for State fire preparedness. Before the scheme is extended, MHA should publish State-wise results, such as stations built and response times. It should also link the ₹500 crore incentive to fire safety in informal settlements and combine fire-station projects with PMAY-Urban slum upgrading. Steps like these would bring the scheme in line with the Sendai Framework, SDG 11 and the Article 21 right to life.