The Hindu : National : Allocation for security up by Rs. 9,000 cr.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 01, 2005

National

National

Allocation for security up by Rs. 9,000 cr.

By Vinay Kumar and Sandeep Dikshit

NEW DELHI, FEB. 28. The Union budget has increased the allocation for security — both external and internal — by about Rs. 9,000 crores of which defence accounts for nearly three-fourths of the hike.

The total allocation for the Central police organisations has gone up to Rs.12,552 crores over last year's Rs. 10,756 crores. This includes allocation for the Central organisations such as the Central Reserve Police Force, the Border Security Force, the National Security Guard, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Central Industrial Security Force. The most significant increase is for the Special Service Bureau (SSB), which guards the Indo-Nepal border right from Uttaranchal to Sikkim It gets Rs. 532.92 crores as against this fiscal's Rs. 358.15 crores to strengthenits ability to detect and foilthreats.

The allocation for works on the Indo-Bangladesh border has gone up from Rs. 441.08 crores to Rs. 631.65 crores.

Modernisation

The budget proposes Rs.1,249 crores for modernisation of police forces, up by nearly 15 per cent over the last fiscal. The allocation for the Special Protection Group (SPG) has been raised by Rs. 24 crores.

The bulk of the increase is for the defence sector. Though the Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, said that the hike is Rs. 6,000 crores, from last fiscal's Rs. 77,000 crores to Rs. 83,000 crores, the increase works out to Rs. 7,000 crores if the increased allocation for pension (Rs. 500 crores) and demand number 21 of the Ministry of Defence (another Rs. 500 crores) is taken into account. On the pension account, the Army accounts for the bulk of the increase. The higher allocation has been explained as "normal annual growth in the number of pensioners" during the next fiscal. As for demand no. 21 which deals with expenditure on canteen stores, housing, public works and Coast Guard, the increased outlay is because of bringing the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry under this head (an additional outgo of Rs. 255 crores) andRs. 145 crores for the Coast Guard.

Rs.2,500 cr. more

On defence accounts,the Government's intention to improve the equipping of the soldiers is reflected in a big way. The three services will receive over Rs. 2.500 crores more than this year's allocation on account of "stores," a term that essentially accounts for purchase of ordnance, airframes and engines, aviation stores, information technology, food, heavy and medium vehicles, clothing and "special projects."

The largest increase has been for the Army, which gets about Rs. 3,500 crores more than this fiscal's allocation of Rs. 28,000 crores. The bulk of the enhanced amount — nearly Rs. 2,000 crores — has been earmarked under the stores head while an additional Rs. 650 crores is to meet the higher outgo on salaries. `Other' expenditure, works and Rashtriya Rifles have been given Rs. 630 crores more than this year's allocation. In the case of the Navy, Mr. Chidambaram has proposed an additional Rs. 700 crores of which the major increase (Rs. 250 crores each) is on account of `works' and `repairs and refit.' Like the other two services, the Navy will receive Rs. 500 crores more with most of it earmarked for stores. For Research and Development, the additional Rs. 500 crores is also on account of stores.

Success story

The biggest success story of the defence establishment is in allocation for purchasing military equipment. The Government succeeded in spending the entire amount of Rs. 33,500 crores on this account during the current fiscal. However, this was not on account of refining the purchase procedures but due to the fact that the previous governments had signed some big-ticket contracts that necessitated hefty advance payments. These included advance jet trainers, modernising of an aircraft carrier and purchase of deck-based fighters and helicopters and aircraft-based radar systems. Next year's allocation for capital purchases is to be hiked by Rs. 900 crores. While construction works for the Army will get an additional Rs. 900 crores, the Air Force's allocation for `aircraft and engines' is being reduced by Rs. 3,000 crores. Other major changes include Rs. 1,000 crores less for the Army for purchasing `other equipment' but the Navy and the Air Force get substantially higher outlays under this head. `Other equipment' was a new head created in the previous budget and accounts for expenditure on procurement of equipment (including ordnance), other than heavy and medium vehicles that cost over Rs. 10 lakhs each and have a life of over seven years.

Acknowledging the speeding up of work on some indigenous military platforms, the outlay for the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been stepped up by about Rs. 500 crores.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National