The Ministry of Home Affairs has allocated Rs 3.29 crore to Meghalaya in 2022-23 for modernisation of the police force in the State.
Out of this budgetary allocation, the ministry has released Rs 2.11 crore to the State during the period.
In 2020-21, the ministry has allocated Rs 3.75 crore to the State for modernisation of the police force. Similarly, in 2021-22, Rs 3.75 crore was allocated. However, in both periods, the fund was not released to the State.
In 2018-19, an amount of Rs 4.07 crore was allocated to Meghalaya and the amount released was Rs 3.66 crore.
In 2019-20, the allocation to the State was Rs 3.75 crore of which Rs 6.63 crore was released.
Modernisation of police forces is an ongoing and continuous process. Since police is a State subject as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, it is the responsibility of the state governments to develop the police infrastructure.
The Government of India approved 15 sub-schemes under the umbrella scheme of ‘Modernisation of Police Forces’ for implementation during the five years’ period from 2021-22 to 2025-26 with the total central outlay of Rs 26,275 crore. One of these sub-schemes is ‘Assistance to States and Union Territories (UTs) for Modernisation of Police’ with an outlay of Rs 4846 crore for the scheme period.
The Government of India has also approved ‘Scheme for Modernisation of Forensic Capacities (SMFC)’ under the umbrella scheme of ‘Modernisation of Police Forces’. The objective of this sub-scheme is to assist development of operationally independent high quality forensic science facilities in the states and UTs to facilitate timely investigation through modernisation of machinery and equipment, availability of trained manpower and modernisation of facilities in laboratories.
Under the umbrella scheme of ‘Modernisation of Police Forces’, the scheme of ‘Assistance to States and UTs for Narcotics Control’ has been extended for a period of five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs 50 crore. Based on the utilisation and savings, the outlay for the scheme can be revised.
