Security measures:A policeman engaged in action during a protest at Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir.File photoNISSAR AHMAD;NISSAR AHMAD -  

The Union Cabinet has approved a Rs. 25,000-crore internal security scheme to strengthen the country’s law and order mechanism and mordernise the police forces, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its approval for the implementation of the umbrella scheme, Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF), for 2017-18 to 2019-20.

“This is the country’s biggest ever internal security scheme. The financial outlay over the three-year period is Rs. 25,060 crore, out of which the Central government’s share will be Rs. 18,636 crore and the States’ Rs. 6,424 crore,” Mr. Singh said at a press conference here. Special provisions had been made under the scheme for internal security, law and order, women’s security, availability of modern weapons, mobility of police forces, logistical support, hiring of helicopters and e-prison among others.

Leg-up to infrastructure

The Home Minister said a Central budget outlay of Rs. 10,132 crore had been earmarked for internal security-related expenditure for Jammu and Kashmir, northeastern States and those affected by left wing extremism (LWE). A scheme for special Central assistance (SCA) for 35 districts worst hit by LWE had been introduced with an outlay of Rs. 3,000 crore to tackle the issue of underdevelopment. An outlay of Rs. 100 crore had been earmarked for police infrastructure upgradation, training institutes, investigation facilities, etc. in the northeastern States.

The new initiatives were being introduced to provide assistance to States for upgradation of police infrastructure, forensic science laboratories, institutions and the equipment available with them to plug critical gaps in the criminal justice system.

Police stations would be integrated to set up a national database of crime and criminal records. It would be linked with other criminal justice system such as prisons, forensic laboratories and prosecution offices. It also provides for setting up a state-of-the-art forensic laboratory in Amravati and upgradation of the Sardar Patel Global Centre for Security, Counter Terrorism and Anti-Insurgency in Jaipur and the Gujarat Forensic Science University in Gandhinagar.