Police budget up a third

Proposed outlay at Rs 34,034 crore, up 33% from Rs 25,619 crore in 2008-09

The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks have caused a sharp rise in the outlay for paramilitary forces in 2009-10. The attacks exposed the technological obsolescence of the country’s police forces and the urgent need for upgrade. The proposed outlay for the current financial year stands at Rs 34,034 crore, up 33 per cent from Rs 25,619 crore (revised estimates) in 2008-09.

The capital outlay on Police has been raised from Rs 3,892 crore in 2008-09 (revised estimates) to Rs 7,403 crore (budget estimates) in 2009-10 – a jump of over 90 per cent. Interestingly, the revised estimate for 2008-09 is lower than the budget estimate of Rs 5,266 crore. In other words, what finally got spent during the year was 26 per cent below what was projected at the beginning of the financial year.

The outlay for the Police forces forms a part of the demand for grants of the Union home ministry. The Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, National Security Guards and Assam Rifles are some of the paramilitary forces under the ministry. Home Minister P Chidambaram has upped the ante on internal security after the Mumbai terror attacks. To begin with, more hubs of the National Security Guard are being set up across the country, apart from the one at Manesar near Delhi.

The states have for long demanded more grant from the Centre to handle the worsening law and order situation and fight terrorists. In the budget for 2009-10, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has proposed to raise the grants-in-aid to state governments 8 per cent from Rs 1,411 crore in 2008-09 (revised estimates) to Rs 1,525 crore. The revised estimate for 2008-09 is 39 per cent higher than the budget estimate of Rs 1,095 crore.

The government is keen to significantly augment the strength of paramilitary forces, which calls for more investment in creating the necessary infrastructure, particularly in the area of housing. The Budget, therefore, has proposed to launch a massive programme of housing to create 100,000 dwelling units for central paramilitary forces personnel. This will not only contribute to the morale of the forces, but will also enable leveraging of government’s annual budgetary resources and create an innovative financing model.

Mukherjee said Rs 2,284 crore more will be spent than in the interim budget presented in February on construction of fences, roads and floodlights along international borders.