'Cannot waive off charges for CAPF deployment in States'

NEW DELHI: The Union Home Ministry (MHA) has said the charges towards deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in the States cannot be waived off as per the latest policy formulated in 2019.

The ministry said that as per the policy on fixation of charges for the deployment of CAPFs in the states and Union Territories (UTs), formulated on September 6, 2019, the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected states, North East States, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and UTs are to pay only 10 per cent of the deployment charges, while the rest of the states are required to pay the full charges.

Further the expenditure incurred by the states on transport, communication and other logistic support to CAPFs during the deployment are being reimbursed by the MHA at the rate of 10 per cent under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme, the ministry added.

"During the period of 2005-06 to 2020-21, Rs 458.92 crore have been reimbursed under SRE scheme, major part of which is operational expenditure, incurred by the states," the MHA has said.

In 2019, the Ministry had reviewed the policy and decided to increase deployment charges.

Since the revision, the states and UTs have to pay around 10 per cent more each year till 2024 for CAPF and Rapid Action Force (RAF) deployment.

In 2021-2022, the charges would be Rs 17.36 crore per annum for normal areas, Rs 28.85 crore per annum for high risk and moderate hardship areas and Rs 37.93 per annum for high risk and high hardship zones. Last year it was 13.70 crore per annum for normal areas and Rs 25.18 crore for high risk and moderate hardship zone and Rs 34.26 per annum from high risk and high hardship zone.

A senior official in the security setup said that the training and hardship allowances of the CAPF troopers have also been increased in recent years, so the hike in deployment charges was required. (IANS)

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