New Delhi: Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre, and border areas infrastructure emerged as major beneficiaries of overall allocation made for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the interim budget.
Funds allocated to modernisation of state police forces and the CCTNS saw a tremendous increase of over 135 percent with Rs 520.51 crore allocated for it in the interim Budget, as against Rs 221.16 crore (revised estimates) allocated the previous year.
More than 95 percent of police stations across the country register First Information Reports (FIR) through CCTNS, a common application software launched in 2009. The imminent implementation of the three new criminal laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BS), and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) — has necessitated an upgrade of the CCTNS.
Funds earmarked for the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre too saw an increase of 73.62 percent to Rs 150.95 crore from the earlier Rs 86.94 crore.
Another major takeaway was the 131.91 percent increase in allocation for the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, to Rs 1341.13 crore.
The overall budgetary allocation for the MHA, meanwhile, saw a marginal increase of 3.06 percent to Rs 2.02 lakh crore from Rs 1.96 lakh crore (revised estimates) the previous year. In absolute terms, the finance ministry hiked its allocation for MHA by Rs 6,833 crore, in the interim budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
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Border areas, Delhi Police & CFSLs
Allocation for development of security infrastructure in border areas saw a surge of approximately 33 percent in the interim budget. Similarly, funds earmarked for building projects for Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and central enforcement agencies jumped by approximately 50 percent.
According to budget documents, these funds will be used for development of offices and residential buildings for CAPFs, Intelligence Bureau (IB), Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Departmental Accounting Organisation (DAO) and Special Protection Group (SPG).
Part of these funds will also be utilised by Central Forensic Science laboratories, Bureau of Police Research & Development, Central Academy for Police Training, Central Detective Training institutes and the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID).
Allocation for development of security infrastructure along border areas has been increased to Rs 335 crore from Rs 251.54 crore. These funds are to be used for, among other things, to maintain border checkposts.
The budgetary allocation for building projects, meanwhile, rose to Rs 3,095.78 crore from Rs 2,071.15 crore (revised estimates) the previous year.
The total outlay also includes Rs 37,277.74 crore for Jammu and Kashmir — a decrease from the earlier Rs 41,751.44 crore.
In a press conference in December, R.R. Swain, DGP (Jammu and Kashmir), had said that killings of civilians and attacks on security forces in J&K declined “significantly” in 2023. He added that 76 terrorists were neutralised in counter-militancy operations last year and that the UT witnessed 14 targeted attacks on civilians in 2023, compared to 31 in 2022.
Besides central paramilitary forces and border area infrastructure, the interim budget allocated Rs 3,199.62 crore for Security Related Expenditure (SRE) and Special Infrastructure Scheme for Left Wing Extremist (LWE) Areas, compared to Rs 2,616.24 crore the previous year.
Allocation for the Delhi Police declined marginally to Rs 11,177.50 from the earlier Rs 11,940.33.
The interim budget also marked a 20-fold hike in funds allocated for the upgradation of Central Forensic Science Laboratories, including those set aside for the establishment of National Forensic Data Centre — Rs 55 crore have been earmarked for this purpose in stark contrast with the previous allocation of Rs 2.70 crore.
At Rs 700 crore, funds allocated for the modernisation of forensic capabilities remained unchanged from the previous year’s revised budget estimates. Further, the allocation for the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) — the country’s master intelligence database for counter-terrorism — remained largely unchanged at Rs 198.53 crore.
Marginal increase for CAPFs
Compared to the previous year, the interim budget affected a marginal increase in funds allocated for the CAPFs — Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Police Force (ITBP), Shashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guard (NSG) and Assam Rifles (AR).
While allocation for CRPF rose by Rs 1,420 crore to Rs 32,809 crore from Rs 31,389, that for BSF declined marginally to Rs 25,027 crore from Rs 25,038 crore the previous year. The NSG, meanwhile, was allocated Rs 1,273.19 crore, as against the earlier Rs 1,322.93 crore, and the ITBP Rs 8,253 crore against the earlier Rs 8,203 crore. CISF’s allocation has been increased by approximately Rs 126 crore to Rs 13,655 crore from Rs 12,929 crore.
Overall, the allocation for CAPFs surged to Rs 97,003 crore from Rs 94,741 crore in absolute terms.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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