J&K Budgets Rs 298 cr for internal security

SRINAGAR: The government of Jammu & Kashmir has budgeted an expenditure of Rs 298 crore for internal security in the next fiscal year, almost an equal amount it booked during the current financial year. About Rs 115 crore would go for remunerations to the special police officials (SPO) and the village defence committees (VDC).

The internal security budget is part of the overall security related expenditure (SRE), which is partly reimbursed by MHA. SRE would be around Rs 672 crore for 2013-14 as the state has booked an expenditure of Rs 521 crore in 2011-12 and Rs 643 crore in 2012-13.

SRE envisages a number of expenditures that have become a routine over the years. Creating alternative accommodation for the security forces is a major expenditure on the internal security front for J&K.

When the security forces were inducted in large numbers during 1990s to manage insurgency, they occupied whatever they could find — hotels, schools, hospitals, government buildings and private houses. With the situation improving gradually and the security grid unwilling to reduce the forces’ footprints, the only option available is to create adequate alternative accommodation for them.