NEW DELHI: A BJP MP-led Parliamentary panel has slammed the Ministry of Finance for cutting down the budgetary allocation of the Indian Coast Guard despite coastal security being given prominence after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
“It is indeed worrying and dismaying to note that the funds allocated under the capital section for 2015-16 for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) is short of the projected requirement by near about 50 per cent viz., the allocated amount being Rs 1,200 crore as compared to the projected requirement of Rs 2,150 crore,” the report claims.
The Standing Committee on Defence, headed by BJP leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Major General B C Khanduri, in its report tabled last week in Parliament, states: “Aspects relating to the security of the nation and more particularly, coastal security on account of the current threat perception cannot be underemphasised or ignored in anyway.”
The panel adds that it “is more worrying, due to the budgetary cut imposed by the Ministry of Finance, the ICG is carrying over a liability of Rs 675 crore from 2014-15. Concurrently, the projected requirement under the capital head for various new schemes of the ICG is said to be Rs 4,225 crore... to ward off the possibility of any incident such as that of 26/11, every possible step be taken for ensuring that the functioning/programmes of the ICG do not suffer due to want of funds”.
Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar had told the Parliamentary panel that the money allocation for year 2015-16 will be exhausted in just six months.
The 39-year-old maritime security force with over 10,000 personnel operates in coordination with the Navy, police and customs department to safeguard the country’s economic and strategic interests. With growing threats from neighbouring countries, the force has been on a constant modernisation roadmap, especially after 26/11. From helicopters to high-speed patrol vessels to radars, it has long list to fulfill.
The Coastal Security Network (CSN), which was created after 26/11, targeted surveillance of India’s 75,000-km long coast through 46 radars, with 36 on the mainland and 10 in islands.
In phase II of CSN, 38 more radars are in the process of being installed. The force aims to have 150 ships and 100 twin-engined aircraft by 2020.