Centre's generosity slashes UP police Budget

The Centre's apparent generosity in hiking its share of police modernisation cost has ironically resulted in the slashing of overall budget for the purpose in Uttar Pradesh.

In the previous financial year, the Centre hiked its percentage share to 60 from 50 and now to 75. But the overall budget size shrank from Rs 240 crore to Rs 200 crore and now to Rs 160 crore.

Explaining the paradox, Director General (police headquarters), S K Rizvi said five years ago, the outlay was about Rs 240 crore of which the Centre bore Rs 120 crore, or 50 per cent.

This continued until 2004-05 when the Centre hiked its share to 60 per cent but kept the amount released at around Rs 120 crore, requiring the state government to give Rs 80 crore as its 40 per cent share for a total size of approximately Rs 200 crore. The Centre further hiked its share to 75 per cent this fiscal but agreed to release again only around Rs 120 crore.

With the state to give Rs 40 crore as its 25 per cent share, the overall outlay would further come down to around Rs 160 crore, Rizvi said.

"Appreciating many of our innovative schemes like introducing battery-driven vehicles for routine operations and replacement of paper-work with investigation kits comprising digital cameras and audio recorders, the Centre had announced that for the year 2005-06, it would share 75 per cent of police modernisation cost for up, which is facing new law and order problems in the form of Maoist insurgency", Rizvi said.

"However, a few months later, we received an official communique stating that the Centre had earlier plan to release a total sum of about Rs 1600 crore for modernisation (for all states). But, due to paucity of funds, the outlay was now reduced", he said. Consequently, UP was told that it would be given only Rs 120 crore, the same as last year, and the amount may be regarded as 75 per cent with the remainder being payable by the state government, the DG said.