The Hindu : Ministers' tour allocation increased

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 01, 2002

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National

Ministers' tour allocation increased

By Vinay Kumar

NEW DELHI FEB. 28. The Union Budget for 2002-03 may have dismayed the middle-class and salaried persons but Central Ministers are sitting pretty with the proposed allocation for their tour expenses going up to Rs. 60 crores, marking a hefty hike of 50 per cent over the allocation for this fiscal. So much for the NDA coalition's much-touted slogan of cutting down Government expenditure.

The total allocation for Atal Behari Vajpayee's Council of Ministers, including the Cabinet Secretariat and the Prime Minister's Office, is proposed to be raised from Rs. 90.44 crores to Rs. 99.22 crores.

While the security environment has caused much concern over the recent past, the Special Protection Group (SPG) has kept its purse strings in check. Out of Rs. 83.58 crores given to the organisation in the last budget, it could spend only Rs. 73.26 crores. This year's budget has proposed Rs. 81.12 crores for the SPG which is responsible for providing proximate security to the Prime Minister, former Prime Ministers and members of their immediate family.

The budget has proposed an allocation of Rs. 10,743 crores for the central para-military forces and modernisation of police forces, marking a marginal increase of Rs. 925 crores. For the ambitious programme of modernisation of police forces, an allocation of Rs. 500 has been maintained. Under this scheme, assistance is provided to State Governments in the form of 50 per cent grants-in-aid and 50 per cent loan to be utilised for expenditure of non-recurring nature on purchase of vehicles, computers, and wireless equipment.

While the Border Security Forces (BSF) has been given Rs. 2605.24 crores, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has got Rs. 1998.79 crores. The allocation for the National Security Guards (NSG) has gone up marginally and is fixed at Rs. 97.69 crores. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), responsible for guarding Government buildings and providing security at domestic airports, has got an allocation of Rs. 768.28 crores, up by Rs. 13 crores.

An allocation of Rs. 827.84 crores has been earmarked for the Delhi Police which is charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order in the national capital and also providing VIP security, traffic management and registration of foreigners. The expenditure of the Delhi Police is being met by the Centre from August 1, 1996.

For putting up barbed wire-fencing and construction of roads on the Indo-Bangladesh border to check illegal immigration, the budget has proposed an allocation of Rs. 75 crores, marking a reduction by Rs. 25 crores over the last budget's allocation.

The Indo-Pak border works have got a substantial increase as the proposed allocation in the budget has gone up from Rs. 99 crores to Rs. 186.99 crores.

Under the rehabilitation package of the Home Ministry, the budget has proposed an allocation of Rs. 181.97 crores, more than tripling the allocation of 2001-02. It includes relief and rehabilitation of repatriates from Sri Lanka (Rs. 25 crores), for Jammu and Kashmir migrants (Rs. 127 crores) and Rs. 11.86 crores for repatriates from other countries.

For free railway passes to freedom fighters, the budget has proposed an allocation of Rs. 55 crores and for pensions and other benefits to the freedom fighters an allocation of Rs. 200.05 crores has been proposed.

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