MHA budget hiked by 24.56%, gets over Rs 77,000 crore

New Delhi: The Home Ministry has been allocated over Rs 77,000 crore in 2016-17 Budget, a steep hike of 24.56 per cent, majority of which have been earmarked for paramilitary forces like CRPF and BSF, responsible for internal security and border guarding duties.

Presenting the general budget in Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced an outlay of Rs 77,383.12 crore to the Home Ministry of which Rs 67,408.12 crore is under non-plan and Rs 9,975 crore under plan heads.

In the 2015-16 budget, Home Ministry was allocated Rs 62,124.52 crore.

In the 2016-17 budget, a total of Rs 50,176.45 crore has been allocated to seven paramilitary forces.

Among these forces, Central Reserve Police Force, deployed for internal security, action against Maoists and operations against terrorists, has been earmarked the highest at Rs 16,228.18 crore.

Border security Force, which guards Indo-Pak and Indo-Bangladesh borders, will get Rs 14,652.90 crore while Central Industrial Security Force, responsible for security of country's airports, nuclear installation, key government buildings and private entities like Infosys, has been allocated Rs 6,067.13 crore.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police, tasked with protecting the Sino-Indian border, has got an outlay of Rs 4,231.04 crore and Assam Rifles, deployed in Indo-Myanmar border and dealing with insurgents in the Northeast, will get Rs 4,363.88 crore.

Sashastra Seema Bal, which guards the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan border, has been earmarked Rs 3,854.67 crore while National Security guards, the anti-terror commando force, gets an allocation of Rs 688.47 crore.

Delhi Police, which reports to the Home Ministry, has been given Rs 5,657.84 crore in the budget.

The budget allocated Rs 2,490 crore for erection of barbed wire fencing, construction of roads and induction of hi-tech surveillance on Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Pak borders.

There have been several instances in recent past when terrorists from Pakistan breached the border and carried out terror attacks, including the January 2 strike on Pathankot

airbase.