The Centre on Wednesday allocated Rs 1.96 lakh crore to the Union Home Ministry with a bulk of the outlay going to paramilitary forces like CRPF and intelligence gathering.
The Budget allocation for 2023-24 to the Ministry is Rs 1,96,034.94 crore as against the outlay of Rs 1,85,776.55 crore in the last fiscal which is nearly a six percent jump in contrast to the current financial year.
A substantial outlay has also been earmarked for improving infrastructure along the international border, police infrastructure and modernisation of police forces.
The bulk of the Ministry’s outlay of Rs 1,27,756.74 crore has been allocated to the paramilitary forces Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in comparison to Rs 1,19,070.36 crore in 2022-23.
Among the CAPFs, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the lead force for internal security duties and anti- militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir, has been allocated Rs 31,772.23 crore in comparison to Rs 31,495.88 crore given in 2022-23. The Border Security Force (BSF), which secures India’s border with Pakistan and Bangladesh besides handling internal security assignments, has been given Rs 24,771.28 crore in comparison to Rs 23,557.51 crore given in the current fiscal.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which protects vital installations such as nuclear projects, airports and metro networks, has been given Rs 13,214.68 crore in comparison to Rs 12,293.23 crore allocated in 2022-23. The Shashastra Seema Bal (SSB), which secures India’s borders with Nepal and Bhutan, has been allocated Rs 8,329.10 crore in comparison to Rs 8,019.78 crore given in 2022-23.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the lead paramilitary force tasked to secure the Indo-China border, got Rs 8,096.89 crore in comparison to Rs 7,626.38 crore given in the current fiscal.
The Assam Rifles, which is deployed along the India-Myanmar border and for anti-insurgency duties in the Northeast, has been allocated Rs 7,052.46 crore in comparison to Rs 6,561.33 crore given in the current fiscal.
The National Security Guard (NSG), the elite commando force to tackle any emergency security situation, has been granted Rs 1,286.54 crore in comparison to Rs 1,183.80 outlay in 2022-23.
The Intelligence Bureau, primarily tasked for gathering internal intelligence, has been allocated Rs 3,418.32 crore in contrast to an outlay of Rs 3,022.02 crore in the current fiscal.
The Special Protection Group (SPG), which exclusively protects the Prime Minister, has been allocated Rs 433.59 crore in comparison to Rs 411.88 crore given in 2022-23.
The Delhi Police has been allocated Rs 11,662.03 crore in comparison to the grant of Rs 11,617.59 crore in 2022-23.
An amount of Rs 3,545.03 crore has been allocated for development of border infrastructure like construction of roads and bridges in contrast to Rs 3,738.98 crore outlay in the current fiscal.
The government has allocated Rs 3,636.66 crore for development of police infrastructure in the budget in comparison to Rs 2,188.38 crore allocated in the ongoing fiscal.
For modernisation of police forces in the country, the budget allocated Rs 3,750 crore in comparison to an outlay of Rs 2,432.06 crore in 2022-23.
An amount of Rs 2,780.88 crore has been allocated for Security-Related Expenditure (SRE) in comparison to Rs 2,024.54 crore given in the current fiscal. The SRE funds are subsequently provisioned for funding infrastructure development and modernization of police forces Naxal-hit States and insurgency prone areas. The budget also allocated Rs 1,564.65 crore for census related works, Rs 1,100 crore for women safety schemes, Rs 700 crore for modernisation of forensic infrastructure, Rs 350.61 crore for maintenance of border out posts (BOPs) and Rs 202.27 crore for Modernisation Plan IV for CAPFs.