Strengthening of the internal security set-up by capacity building of the Central Armed Police Forces and the intelligence set-up in the country has been a key focus area in the Union Budget 2019-2020. While the Union Home Minister Amit Shah termed the budget a “budget for a New India”, his ministry was allocated Rs 1,19,025 crore, marking an increase of Rs 5,858 crore. The MHA budget was Rs 1,13,167 crore in the financial year 2018-19. Shah is ready to disburse more funds to the CRPF, BSF, NSG, ITBP, Intelligence Bureau, National Intelligence Grid and Cyber Crime Coordination Centre set up by the Modi government to tackle cyber attacks and espionage attempts by state or non-state actors.
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Meanwhile, the country's first Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman, has got the highest increase in budgetary allocation from Rs 4.29 crore in fiscal year 2018-19 to Rs 101.29 in 2019-20 under the Ministry of Personnel meant for the establishment and construction-related charged expenditure for Lokpal. The increased budget for Lokpal has come months after the country's first Lokpal was appointed by the Modi government. Former Supreme Court judge Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose was appointed Lokpal on March 20.
Notably, the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is entrusted with the investigation and prosecution in corruption cases against public servants, private persons and firms and has been plagued by controversies over the last one year, has also got an increased budget allocation. The funds to the CBI under the Ministry of Personnel are meant for establishment-related expenditure of the agency besides modernisation of training centres of the CBI and establishment of technical and forensic support units, which has been one of the key demands of the investigators handling critical cases like the bank fraud case against liquor baron Vijay Mallya whose extradition is being sought from the UK, apart from several other corruption cases AgustaWestland case and some other involving senior political leaders. However, the budget allocation for Right to Information (RTI) and the Central Information Commission, which is mostly meant for the government's propagation of RTI Act, has been slashed from Rs 8.66 crore to Rs 5.5 crore.
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The fact that the common man was looking towards the government on the national security front and keenly following the developments on the India-Pakistan border following the Pulwama terror strike and the retaliatory Balakot operations by the Modi government in the last few months, has renewed the need to focus on the capacity building of the CAPF as well as the intelligence set-up to thwart possible terror strikes.
The Intelligence Bureau has got a budget increase from Rs 1,854.4 crore to Rs 2,275.6 crore. The IB has its own multi agency centre and subsidiary multi-agency centres in states for collating valuable intelligence inputs and sharing them to ward off terror threats. The NATGRID budget has been increased from Rs 47.28 crore to Rs 50.82 crore. The National Intelligence Grid aims to link databases as an input in combating terrorism. It intends to create a facility to improve capability to counter internal security threats.
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Meanwhile, the CAPF like CRPF, BSF, ITBP which play a crucial role in internal security, border security, counter insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast and assist states in law and order duties, have got an increase in their budgets. The CRPF has got an increase from Rs 20,268 crore to Rs 23,963 crore; NSG has seen an increase from Rs 1,033.3 crore to Rs 1,119.67 crore; BSF from Rs 17,118.6 crore to Rs 19,650.7 crore and ITBP from Rs 5,521.6 crore to Rs 6,018.69 crore.
Further , the Special Protection Group, which provides proximate security to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as former prime ministers and members of their immediate family has also got an increased budget from Rs 385 crore to Rs 535 crore.
Modernisation of state police forces and the crime and criminal tracking network and system is also on the priority list with a budget increase from Rs 897.2 crore to Rs 959.8 crore. Central schemes for left-wing extremism-hit areas also have got focus in the budget apart from the international visa-tracking facilities which have made immigration procedures stronger and faster.
