Housing satisfaction for CAPF jawans to be enhanced, plan in next Budget: Shah

The Modi government has decided to enhance housing satisfaction for jawans and officials of central armed police forces (CAPFs) and steps will be taken in the upcoming Budget to allocate funds for this subject, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Sunday.

Shah said this while addressing CRPF personnel during the foundation-laying ceremony for their new headquarters building here.

The minister said he has a "firm determination" to change the existing situation on various issues confronting these forces including housing.

"The housing satisfaction ratio (for CAPFs) has to increase... We have firmed up our mind on this... It will taken up in the next Budget. We will do it," the minister said.

While the CRPF has a poor housing satisfaction of 13.75 per cent at present, the same figure for the about 10 lakh-personnel-strong CAPFs is about 25 per cent, a senior official said.

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).

Shah added that once housing satisfaction levels increase, it will enable him to implement an ambitious plan to ensure that each jawan of these forces like CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB gets to spend about 100 days in an year with their family.

"By August-September next year we will have a definite action plan for initiation of a number of welfare issues for all these forces."