Special Protection Group allocation up by 28%

With the Special Protection Group (SPG) planning to have its own aircraft, the government has increased the elite force's budgetary allocation by 28 per cent for the next fiscal.

The budgetary proposals for the SPG, which has been bringing in modern equipment and plans to get a plane, for this fiscal has been pegged at Rs 226.17 crore as against Rs 176.59 crore during 2008-09.

Besides guarding the Prime Minister and his family, the SPG is also guarding the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanaka.

The 3,000-strong force has been pressing for an aircraft for long in order to meet its needs for carrying out security-related operations ahead of a VVIP visit.

Keeping this in mind, the budgetary proposal of the SPG accounted for an increase of 45 per cent in the last fiscal followed by 28 per cent this year.

The SPG was looking for an aircraft in Europe and the US to allow it to carry out Advance Security Liaison (ASL) teams ahead of a VVIP visit, official sources said.

The SPG, which was earlier known as Special Protection Unit, used to take the aircraft from Aviation Research Centre (ARC) of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) but has been facing some problems of late.

The budgetary proposal for next fiscal has also seen an increase of 15 per cent for Intelligence Bureau (IB).