The Union Budget on Friday allocated Rs 65,745 crore for the Union Home Ministry, an increase of 11 per cent over the outlay for the last fiscal, outlining a slew of measures including significant increase in provision for various border management works.
The Budget doubled the outlay for Indo-Bangladesh border works from Rs 495 crore last fiscal to Rs 958 crore this year, three-fold increase for Indo-Pak border works from Rs 95 crore to Rs 300 crore and Rs 367 crore for Indo-China border this year from Rs 215 crore last year.
Allocation of Indo-Myanmar borders was tripled from Rs 5 crore last fiscal to Rs 15 crore in the ongoing financial year. However, outlay for Indo-Nepal border has been reduced from Rs 750 crore to Rs 500 crore. The Budget has also provided Rs 10 crore for Indo-Bhutan border works for which nothing was allocated last year.
The overall outlay on border management has been jacked up from Rs 1,560 crore last year to Rs 2,150 crore this fiscal. Erection of barbed wire fencing and construction of roads as border works will be taken up as part of Border Management steps.
Other highlights of the Budget included measures for safety of women in large cities, setting up of Crisis Management Centres in Government and private hospitals in Delhi and all the districts of the National Capital Region. The Centre earmarked Rs 150 crore on a scheme to increase the safety of women in large cities.
The Central paramilitary forces were given significant hike in their outlays and provisions for police modernisation were sufficiently increased. The Government has allocated Rs 12,169.51 crore to country’s largest paramilitary force CRPF in comparison to Rs 11,373.72 crore it received last year.
CRPF is involved in anti-Naxal operations besides maintaining security situation in Jammu & Kashmir and the North-Eastern region.
The BSF, which guards Indo-Pak and Indo-Bangladesh borders, has been allocated Rs 11,242.02 crore in contrast to Rs 10,378.77 crore allocated in 2013-14 while Central Industrial Security Force, which guards country’s vital installations like airports, Delhi Metro, was earmarked Rs 4,729.22 crore against Rs 4,391.49 crore it got last year.
Assam Rifles, which plays a key role in anti-insurgency operations in the North-East and guards the Indo-Myanmar border, has been allocated Rs 3,585.57 crore. In 2013-14, it had received Rs 3,358 crore.
ITBP, which guards the icy heights along the Indo-China border, will get Rs 4,729.22 crore against the Rs 4,391.49 crore it was allocated last fiscal. SSB, which protects the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders, will get Rs 3,067.79 crore as against Rs 2,763.40 crore in 2013-14.