New Delhi, April 26, 2017: Union Home Ministry on Wednesday said that there have been reports in a section of media on the recent Sukma incident which need clarification. The Ministry of Home Affairs has clarified these reports as below:
A Home Ministry statement said it was factually not correct to observe that lack of financial resources are a reason for casualty of valuable lives of police and CRPF personnel which are being lost in the battle against Left Wing Extremism.
The funds released for Security Related Expenditure Scheme have increased from Rs. 575 crores in 2011-12, 2012-2013, 2013-2014 to Rs. 675 crores in 2014-15, 2015-2016, 2016-2017. The above increase is in spite of the fact that States now get a greater share (42%) of the Centre’s tax resources as compared to only 32% in the past.
It was also incorrect to say that Chhattisgarh Police is in shambles. In addition to 45,000 Central Forces, over 20,000 State Police personnel are posted in Bastar region. Recruitment is ongoing and continuous process. For a force of 70,000, about 3,000 policemen retire every year and there is always a pipeline of 6,000 people under recruitment, said the statement.
The statement also sought to clarify that there were no directions by MHA regarding not showing grieving widows on TV channels. It was a suggestion verbally made keeping in mind the sensitivities of the bereaved families and the fundamental decency of not intruding to the privacy of the grieving families.