Govt allocates Rs 232 crore for infra development of CAPFs

The Centre has approved Rs 232 crore for the development of infrastructure for jawans of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) like the CRPF and BSF, officials said.

The CAPFs, which are the backbone of internal security, are pressed into service in anti-naxal, anti-terror and anti-insurgency operations across the country in addition to law and order duties in states and work in difficult circumstances away from their families.

A total of Rs 216.46 crore has been sanctioned by the Union Home ministry recently for the development of infrastructure of the CAPFs and Rs 16.03 crore has been sanctioned for acquisition of land, a Home ministry official said on Wednesday.

Apart from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Border Security Force (BSF), the other CAPFs include the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guard (NSG) and the Assam Rifles.

The fund will be spent mainly for construction of residential quarters, barracks, office buildings among others, the official said.

In the Union budget for 2019-20, a total of Rs 5,117 crore has been allocated for development of police infrastructure, including constructions of barracks, residential quarters, purchase of vehicles and arms and ammunition.

Last month, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said the Modi government has decided to enhance housing satisfaction for jawans as well as officials of the CAPFs and steps will be taken in the upcoming budget to allocate more funds for it.

Officials said the overall housing satisfaction for the 10 lakh-strong-personnel of CAPFs is about 25 per cent but for the country's largest CAPF -- the CRPF -- the housing satisfaction is just 13.75 per cent.

Personnel who do not get a government house are forced to stay in rented and far-off locations for which they are paid housing rent allowance (HRA), another official said.

Meanwhile, the Union Home ministry has sanctioned Rs 2.62 crore as ex-gratia compensation to the next of kins of four CAPFs jawans who were martyred recently.