MHA budget hiked by 11 per cent, lion’s share of allocation for police

The lion’s share of the Budget allocation for MHA has gone to police which has been earmarked in excess of Rs 1.17 lakh crore for the coming fiscal. The allocation for Delhi Police has increased from Rs 8,338 crore to Rs 10,096 crore between the last and this Budget.

Read | Budget 2022 Live Updates: Budget ‘people-friendly, progressive’, will give wings to ambitions of youth, says Modi

Of the 1.17 lakh crore, Rs 10,500 crore has been allocated for capital expenditure, just marginally higher than last Budget. In 2021-22, allocation for police stood at Rs 1.03 lakh crore with Rs 9,715 crore being capital expenditure. Both the figures were marginally lower compared to the 2020-21 Budget.

Jammu and Kashmir, which is in a re-shaping phase after having been newly carved out as a Union Territory, has been given an extra Rs 4,800 crore this Budget. While the 2021-22 Budget had granted Rs 30,757 crore to the UT, this Budget has allocated Rs 35,581 crore to UT. Ladakh has been allocated Rs 5,958 crore, same as last one and the one before that. Almost 60% of the allocation for Ladakh is capital expenditure.

In the last Budget, the Census had been allocated Rs 3,768 crore. As the Census has remained suspended due to the pandemic, this Budget has kept the allocation at Rs 3,676. According to the Budget, it “includes provisions for the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India and various schemes of RGI including National Population Register (NPR) and expenditure on Census, 2021.”

In the Cabinet, highest increase in allocation has been recorded by the Office of Principal Scientific Advisor. The allocation for this office is up from Rs 68 crore in the last budget to Rs 300 crore in this Budget. According to the budget, “The provision is for meeting the administrative expenses of Office of Principal Scientific Advisor and National Research Foundation.”

The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been allocated Rs 87,444 crore, up from Rs 77,838 crore in the last Budget, recording an increase of 12 per cent. Border infrastructure management has been allocated about Rs 600 crore more this Budget with total allocation at Rs 2,744 crore. According to the budget, “The provision is for erection of barbed wire fencing, construction of roads, construction of Observation Post Tower (O.P. Tower), installation of flood lighting, induction of hi-tech surveillance on Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Pak borders, for various such construction activities at India’s i27nternational borders with its neighbouring countries…”

The government is also focusing on improving infrastructure in border areas, as emphasised by FInance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech. “Border villages with limited connectivity often get left out from the development gains. Such villages on the northern border will be covered under a new Vibrant Villages Programme. The activities will include construction of villages infrastructure, housing, tourist centres, road connectivity, provisioning of decentralized renewable energy…” she said.