New Delhi: The Modi government has decided to enhance housing satisfaction for jawans and officials of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and steps will be taken in the upcoming Budget to allocate funds for this subject, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Sunday.
The minister gave this information while addressing CRPF personnel during the foundation-laying ceremony for their new headquarters building here. Shah asserted he has a ‘firm determination’ to change the existing situation on various issues confronting these forces including housing.
“The housing satisfaction ratio (for CAPFs) has to increase… We have firmed up our mind on this… It will be taken up in the next Budget. We will do it,” Shah told the gathering.
While the CRPF has a poor housing satisfaction of 13.75 per cent at present, the same figure for the about 10 lakh-personnel-strong CAPFs is about 25 per cent, a senior official said.
Personnel who do not get a government house are forced to stay in rented and far-off locations for which they are paid housing rent allowance (HRA).
Shah added that once housing satisfaction levels increase, it will enable the ministry to implement an ambitious plan to ensure that each jawan of these forces like CRPF, BSF, ITBP, CISF and SSB gets to spend about 100 days in an year with their family.
“By August-September next year we will have a definite action plan for initiation of a number of welfare issues for all these forces,” Shah said. “My government’s commitment is that while you protect us and the country, it is the duty of the government to ensure the well-being and protection of your family,” he added.
Shah also informed that families of all the CAPF jawans will be given ‘e-health cards’ so that their medical checkups are undertaken on a regular basis.
“The MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) has tied up with AIIMS for rolling out this health-card scheme. I would urge state police forces to also undertake such an initiative,” Shah said.
Calling CRPF as the ‘world’s bravest Armed Force’, Shah said it was very important to give the about 3.25 lakh-personnel-strong force a headquarters of its own and this will enhance its capability and alertness in the future.
The new Central Reserve Police Force headquarters will come up on a 2.23-acre land adjacent to the CBI head office on Lodhi Road at an estimated cost of Rs 277 crore.
Shah also unveiled a new insignia for the CRPF’s VIP security wing that protects 59 high-risk dignitaries, including members of the Gandhi family and a host of Union ministers.
The logo – with a ‘Garuda’, sword and shield – will give a distinct identity to the unit, Shah said.
The VIP security wing of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was raised in 2014 and has four battalions, comprising about 4,000 personnel. The insignia will bear the motto of the force – ‘Always, Aware, Alert’.
