Budget 2012: Modernizing of forces still not priority

Concerns over internal security has always been in focus during various discourses within the government, but the budget does not appear to match those words. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday hardly allocated anything substantial for modernizing state police forces which largely depend on the Centre to fund their schemes.
The budget, however, intended to take care of well-being of central paramilitary forces by allocating Rs 1,185 crore for construction of 4,000 residential quarters for personnel who are deployed for fighting against terrorists and naxalites and also to protect Indian borders.
Besides, a provision of Rs 3,280 crore for 2012-13 has also been made for construction of office buildings including land acquisition and barracks to accommodate 27,000 personnel of various forces like CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB.
Though the overall allocation to the home ministry has seen an increase of Rs 6,767 crore from Rs 47,681 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 54,448 crore in next financial year, total assistance to states rose by merely Rs 174.96 crore including Rs 100 crore for modernization of police forces. These minor increases will affect the states’ plan to procure modern weapons and sophisticated gadgets for their police forces.
Surprisingly, the fund for creating special infrastructure in Maoist-affected states has seen a decline of Rs 45 crore from Rs 200 crore in the financial year 2011-12 to Rs 155 crore in next fiscal. As a result, seven naxal-affected states – Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh – will get lesser fund from the home ministry.
In contrast, the Centre’s ongoing effort to put in place the National Intelligence Grid (Natgrid) got Rs 364.80 crore in this year's budget, a huge jump from last year's Rs 27.96 crore. The grid is being set up to collect various kinds of data under a system which can be shared quickly through secure computerized network with security agencies as and when required.
Budget 2012
Budget News 2012