'Just sending reminders won't work': Parliamentary panel to MHA on state govts' dues to paramilitary forces

State governments owe Rs 63,156 crore to central paramilitary forces till October last year for deploying personnel for various reasons, prompting a Parliamentary panel to ask Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to work out a payment plan within a timeframe with states, as "merely sending reminders will not serve any purpose".

This is beyond the dues of Rs 6,537.15 crore pending to CISF for its deployment in airports, Central Public Sector Units and other installations as on December 2021.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs headed by senior Congress MP Anand Sharma was told that total dues run into Rs 63,156 crore and are pending against various states and Union Territories.

"The committee recommends that the Ministry should take up with the concerned states/UTs and other organisations to work out a payment plan within a fixed timeline for clearance of these dues by them. Merely reminding the states/UTs and other organisations to pay the pending dies may not serve the purpose," the panel said.

Delhi alone has dues of Rs 1,533.36 crore -- Rs 36.21 crore to CISF, Rs 1,297.03 crore to CRPF and Rapid Action Force, Rs 135.72 crore to Rs ITBP, Rs 17.90 crore to BSF and Rs 46.50 crore to SSB, according to the report on Demands of Grants for the MHA tabled in the Parliament on Monday.

Earlier, the rate of deployment charges for a battalion of a paramilitary force was fixed at Rs 52.40 crore per year uniformly applicable across India for 2018-19.

However, the MHA revised it for 2019-20 and fixed Rs 13.70 crore for normal areas, Rs 25.18 crore for high risk and moderate hardship areas and Rs 34.26 crore for high risk and high hardship areas with a provision for annual increase. For 2021-22, the rates were fixed at Rs 17.36, Rs 28.85 crore and Rs 37.93 crore respectively.

When the panel asked about the steps taken to recover the dues, the MHA said it was following up with states and some had earlier cleared the dues.

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