NEW DELHI: Giving priority to the internal security sector, the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has doled out approximately `10,000 crore more than the last year’s budget for the Ministry of Home Affairs byallocating `39,660 crore in the 2011-12.
Majority of the increased budgetary allocation is aimed at proving better housing to paramilitary police forces, strengthening crime and criminal tracking network, registering population to get exact number and information of non-Indian residents living in the country and to seek prior information on foreigner seeking visa in Indian consulates abroad to track terrorists and criminals through a mission mode project. Paying heed to the long pending demand for housing for the paramilitary forces, the mainstay of handling unrest and insurgency, the Budget earmarks `2690 crore, a quantum jump of about 400 percent than the last year when it was accorded merely `557 crores.
Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), a pet project of the Centre to bring country-wide police stations and security agencies under a single networked info-sharing umbrella for faster tracking of crime and criminals, has been increased by `210 crore than the last year’s budget allocation.
The allocation for CCTNS project stands at `384 crores in 2011-12, while it was `175 crores in the last year’s budget.