Budget 2024: Over Rs 2 lakh crore allocated to home ministry

Budget 2024: The interim budget 2024-25 on Thursday allocated Rs 202868.70 crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs with the highest share of funds going to the paramilitary forces like CRPF, BSF, and CISF. While Rs 132345.47 crore was given to the police under which the paramilitary forces come, Rs 37277.74 crore was given to Jammu and Kashmir, which has been a Union Territory after the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state in 2019.

Ladakh got Rs 5958 crore, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Rs 5866.37 crore, Chandigarh Rs 5862.62 crore, Puducherry Rs 3269.00 crore, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Rs 2648.97 crore and Rs 1490.10 crore was given to Lakshadweep and Rs 1168.01 to Delhi.

A sum of Rs 1248.91 crore was given to the cabinet under which the expenditure on the council of ministers, cabinet secretariat, Prime Minister's Office, hospitality, and entertainment of the government comes.

Among the paramilitary forces, Rs 32809.65 crore was given to the CRPF from a revised estimate of Rs 31389.04 crore in 2023-24, Rs 25027.52 crore to the BSF (Rs 25038.68 crore in 2023-24), Rs 13655.84 crore to CISF (Rs 12929.85 crore), Rs 8253.53 crore to ITBP (Rs 8203.68 crore in 2023-24), Rs 8485.77 crore to SSB (Rs 8435.68 crore in 2023-24) and Rs 7368.33 crore to the Assam Rifles (Rs 7276.29 crore in 2023-24).

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is mostly deployed for internal security duties, operations against terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, Naxals in central and eastern India, and the insurgents in the Northeast. The Border Security Force (BSF) mostly guards the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-Bangladesh borders besides it is also deployed for internal security duties. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) guards vital installations like nuclear plants, airports, and metro networks.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) guards the Sino-Indian border, the Shashastra Seema Bal (SSB) guards the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders, and the Assam Rifles protect India's border with Myanmar. While the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been allocated Rs 3195.09 crore (Rs 3268.94 crore in 2023-24), Rs 11177.50 crore to the Delhi Police (Rs 11940.33 crore in 2023-24), Rs 506.32 crore to the Special Protection Group (SPG) (Rs 446.83 crore in 2023-24).

The IB is India's internal intelligence agency, the Delhi Police guards the national capital and the SPG provides security to the Prime Minister. The budget allocated Rs 3199.62 crore for security-related expenditure and Special Infrastructure Scheme for Left Wing Extremist Areas, Rs 335.00 crore for the Border Area Development Programme, Rs 214.44 crore for safe city projects, and Rs 330.00 crore for the Land Port Authority of India.