The central armed police forces like the CRPF, BSF, ITBP, NSG which undertake the mammoth task of guarding the international border, counter insurgency operations and election duties, besides guarding VIPs, have bagged the largest chunk of the Union Home Ministry’s budget this year.
With elections round the corner in states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Rajasthan this year, the role of the central police forces like the CRPF is critical as different theatres have different security challenges.
Not to forget the looming threat on the Line of Actual Control with China, the role border guarding forces like the ITBP as well as the BSF on the international border with Pakistan remains important.
The central armed police forces have been allocated Rs 94,665 crore in this budget and among them the largest paramilitary force, CRPF, has got the highest allocation at Rs 31,772 crore followed by BSF with Rs 24,771 crore. ITBP’s share is at Rs 8,096 crore and the Intelligence Bureau at Rs 3,418 crore.
The focus has been on building border infrastructure and strengthening border outposts as the twin challenges have kept New Delhi on its toes with incursions by the Chinese PLA threatening to disturb the peace on the border. For maintenance of border outposts, the government has earmarked Rs 350 crore compared to Rs 267 crore last year. At the same time, there is also focus on building policing infrastructure for long term gains and Rs 3636 crore has been earmarked for it in the budget.
The allocation for all the central armed police forces has gone up as compared to last year. The black cat commandos of the NSG have got Rs 1,286 crore while the Special Protection Group which guards the prime minister has got an allocation of Rs 433 crore.
The Delhi Police, which is responsible for maintaining and enforcing law and order in the national capital, has got an allocation of Rs 11,662 crore and the funds will be used for developing traffic and communication network in NCR mega cities and model traffic system, upgradation or expansion of communication infrastructure, upgradation of training, induction of latest technology and installation of traffic signals and so on. Meanwhile, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has got Rs 35,581 crore, Ladakh has been allocated Rs 5,958 crore while Delhi got Rs 1,168 crore.
