MHA gets Rs 1,66,547 crore in budget 2021-22, majority for border guarding forces, census ops

The Ministry of Home Affairs has received an allocation of Rs 1,66,547 crore in the 2021-22 budget, an increase of 11.48 per cent from the current fiscal, with a majority of the funds going to the central armed police forces and a substantial amount for census-related works.

According to the budget proposals presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Monday, Rs 30,757 crore has been allocated to Jammu and Kashmir and Rs 5,958 crore to Ladakh -- the two newly created Union Territories.

An amount of Rs 1,66,547 crore has been allocated for the Ministry of Home Affairs for the fiscal 2021-22 in comparison to Rs 1,49,387 crore it had received in 2020-21. Rs 1,03,802.52 crore of the fund has been earmarked for the central armed police forces such as the CRPF, the BSF and the CISF, and Rs 3,768.28 crore for census operations. The work for the census 2021 has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Central sector schemes and projects of the MHA got Rs 1,641.12 crore, while Rs 481.61 crore has been allocated for disaster management.

The Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been allocated Rs 5,317.41 crore, Chandigarh got Rs 4,661.12 crore, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Rs 2,204.59 crore, Lakshasweep Rs 1,440.56 crore and Puducherry Rs 1,729.79 crore.

Rs 20,729.54 crore has been allocated to the BSF in 2021-22, in comparison to Rs 19,377.83 crore allocated in 2020-21 -- an increase of 6.97 per cent.

The BSF guards the country's borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. Infiltration of militants and cross-border firing from Pakistan have been regular features along the 3,323 km long frontier all of which, barring the 740-km-long Line of Control, is guarded by the BSF.

The 4,096-km long Indo-Bangladesh border, guarded by the BSF, also sees illegal infiltration, smuggling of cows, contraband and other items. The air wing of the BSF received Rs 140.15 crore in comparison to Rs 54.75 crore received last year -- an increase of 155 per cent.

The ITBP, which guards 3,488 km long Sino-Indian border, received Rs 6,567.17 crore in comparison to Rs 6,150.15 crore last Budget -- an increase of 6.78 per cent.

The CRPF, which is deployed for internal security, maintenance of law and order and anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir, received Rs 26,197.90 crore in comparison to Rs 24,788.28 crore in 2020-21 -- an increase of 5.6 per cent.

The Intelligence Bureau received Rs 2,839.24 crore in comparison to Rs 2,433.89 crore received last year -- an increase of 16.6 per cent.  The CISF, which guards vital installations like nuclear plants, airports, key industries, metro networks and other important government buildings, received Rs 10,341.83 crore in comparison to Rs 10,676.98 crore last year.

The SSB, which guards India's borders with Nepal (1,751 km) and Bhutan (699 km), received Rs 6,479.74 crore in comparison to Rs 5,950 crore in 2020-21.