Details of the money spent by J&K Government under the Security related Expenditure
10 Jan, 2015As part of our work promoting people's access to crucial information which is not proactively disclosed by public authorities in the normal course of their work, I have obtained some details of how the Government of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) spent the money under the Central Government's Security-related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme since April 2013. According to the document posted on the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) at this link: http://www.mha.nic.in/more3SRE has two components-
1) police/action plan and elections and
2) relief and rehabilitation (R&R)
A person who is not a resident of J&K cannot seek this information under the State's Right to Information Act of 2009. As the SRE funding is provided by the Union Home Ministry the Government of J&K would have to submit some documentation for claiming those funds. So I sought copies of those documents under the Central Right to Information Act. The RTI application is at the front of the attachment. I sought information about the manner of spending of these funds from April 2013-October 2014. I did not want to seek information for a longer period as that might have been treated as voluminous information. As the RTI application was sent on 1st December I was not sure if the spending figures for November 2014 would have been sent to the MHA. A quick compilation of the spending data is in the 1st attachment. The RTI application and replies are in the 2nd attachment.
Findings from the RTI Intervention
1) A big chunk of the SRE-R&R money was spent on Kashmiri migrants - Rs. 206.76 crores in 2013-14. This is a third of the total SRE spend on both police and R&R taken together. During the first 7 months of the financial year of 2014-15 the spend was Rs. 109.73 crores. That makes it a little less than 30%. The spending may go up by the end of this financial year. I have not come across names of the beneficiaries which are required to be proactively disclosed by the Government of J&K under Section 4(1)(b) Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; of the J&K RTI Act.
2) Relief for rehabilitation of widows and orphans costed Rs. 2.9 crores in 2013-14 and Rs. 1.14 crores during the first 7 months of the current financial year. I presume these are for the non-migrant Kashmiri families but cannot be sure. RTI activists must demand proactive dislcosure of the names of these beneficiaries as well under the J&K RTI Act.
3) Honorarium paid to SPOs (Special Police Officers) was Rs. 88.88 crores in 2013-14 and Rs. 56.85 during the first 7 months of the current financial year. If the trend of spending is maintained, the money paid to SPOs may be more than last year.
4) Interestingly air-lift charges were covered in 2013-14 budget but the rescue operations during the floods of 2014 do not seem to have been billed on the SRE budget for this financial year.
5) No money was spent on security work done in jails while the security work done by the police costed Rs. 55.28 crores in 2013-14 and only Rs. 21.24 crores in the current financial year. However Rs. 13.18 crores were spent on detenues in 2013-14 and only Rs. 3.35 crores in the current financial year. I do not know if this is due to a fall in the prison population or what. Also no money was spent from this budget on security and communication equipment or arms and ammunition during the last 19 months. That is quite interesting. Large sums of money were spent on the carriage of the constabulary and accommodation for security forces.
6) Some abbreviations are difficult to understand such as Serial nos. 11, 19, 20, 21 in SRE-Police data. Perhaps a police officer may be able to decipher them. I hope RTI activists in J&K will take this point up for deeper exploration.
7) Rs. 96 crores were spent this year for the State Assembly elections. However this figure could go up as the election expenses incurred in November and December 2014 are not included as I had not asked details for those months for reasons explained above.
8) In 2013 Rs. 4 crores was spent on the construction of a hostel for J&K students at Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMIU) in New Delhi. Sources in JMIU have informed me that the construction work has not been completed yet.
Interestingly, no question was raised in the Lok Sabha since 2009 about the spending on the SRE-Police and SRE-R&R schemes. To the best of my knowledge such queries have not been raised in the Rajya Sabha during the last 2 years either. Even the Interlocutor's Report does not discuss how the SRE funds are being used since 1989 when the SRE scheme was started.
J&K AFSPA notifications issued by Government of J&K missing from the MHA's files
I had also sought copies of the notifications issued by the Governor of J&K placing various districts under the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1990 (J&K AFSPA). The J&K Division of the MHA replied that it does not have copies of those notifications. In fact these notifications were available on the MHA's website earlier as they were cced to the J&K Division. But they are no longer uploaded on the MHA website although their text is retyped under the bare Act of J&K AFSPA uploaded on the MHA's website. Yet the MHA cannot find the original notifications and has sent me a 'Nil' reply. This is very strange indeed.
I hope RTI activists, journalists and academics who will know more about ground realities in J&K will make use of this RTI data and the compilation and do their own analysis and publish their findings. They must also insist that all this information be proactively disclosed by the J&k Government as well. A minor point- MHA did not charge me anything for this information even though they sent the information within 30 days and also because I pointed out the connection with Section 4(1)(b) Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; Every public authority shall publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees; (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; (ix) a directory of its officers and employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made; (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes; (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it; (xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be prescribed and thereafter update these publications every year; of the Central RTI Act.
Venkatesh Nayak
Government of Jammu and Kashmir Finance Department Security Related Expenditure for the period: 01 April, 2013 to 31 October, 2014 (obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005 from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs) |
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SRE (Police / Election / Action Plan) - SRE-P (Rupees in Crores) |
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# | Items | Total Expenditure: April 2013 - March 2014 | Total Expenditure: April 2014 - October 2014 |
1 | Carriage of Constabulary | 39.888 | 20.258 |
2 | Material and Supplies | 16.805 | 5.613 |
3 | Arms and Ammunition | 0 | 0 |
4 | Upgradation of Trade Facilitation Centres: | ||
a) Salamabad- Uri, District Baramulla | 1.4719 | 0 | |
b) Chakan-de-bagh, District Poonch | 0 | 0 | |
5 | Rent of Accommodation | 31.98 | 15.204 |
6 | 14th JKP Bn | 6.169 | 2.251 |
7 | Honorarium to SPOs | 88.88 | 56.852 |
8 | Expenditure on detenues | 13.181 | 3.35 |
9 | Alternate Accommodation for SFs | 27.76 | 11.608 |
10 | Lease / Board / Lodge Sec / Zone | 76.1701 | 21.2415 |
11 | CAP (in respect of JKP) | 2.784 | 0.253 |
12 | Air Lift Charges | 1.35855 | 0 |
13 | Sec Work by Police | 55.288 | 17.378 |
14 | Sec Work by Jail | 0 | 0 |
15 | Sec Work by Estates | 0 | 0 |
16 | Construction of Hostel at JMI University | 4.81 | 0 |
Total | 366.54555 | 154.0085 | |
Action Plan SRE for J&K | |||
17 | Arms and Ammunition | 0 | 0 |
18 | Vehicle (New) | 0 | 0 |
19 | IRP Bns (11th to 15th) | 0 | 0 |
20 | IRP Bns (16th to 20th) | 0 | 0 |
21 | DAR (95 Cpy), B, post (114) | 2.069 | 2.266 |
22 | Sec/Comm Equipment | 0 | 0 |
23 | Issue of Identity Card | 0 | 0 |
24 | Continuation action plan | 0 | 0 |
25 | Incentive to JKVF | 0 | 0 |
26 | Incentive to SOG | 0 | 0 |
Total Action Plan SRE | 2.069 | 2.266 | |
27 | Election related SRE (Panchayat 2011 & Assembly 2014) | 0 | 96.096 |
Grand Total / Net Claim | 368.61355 | 252.3705 | |
SRE (Relief and Rehabilitation) - SRE - R&R | |||
I | Relief to Kashmiri Migrants | ||
1 | Cash Assistance | 131.66426 | 69.1039 |
2 | Free Ration / Food Grains | 8.4878 | 4.61648 |
3 | Grant of Camp / College / School | 0 | 0 |
4 | Civic Amenities | 1.12706 | 0.43277 |
5 | Maintenance | 0 | 0 |
6 | Improvement of infrastructure | 2.6572 | 0.67192 |
7 | Rent of houses owned by Kashmiri migrants | 0 | 0 |
8 | Construction of two room tenements | 10.2193 | 5.75684 |
Total | 154.15562 | 80.5819 | |
II | Ex-Gratia Relief | ||
1 | Civilians Property | 2.279 | 1.167 |
2 | JK Police | 0.3253 | 0.381 |
3 | SPOs | 0 | 0 |
4 | CPMFs | 0 | 0 |
5 | Army | 1.072 | 0.475 |
6 |
Cash payment in lieu of appointment in Govt. Service |
16.8 | 9.52 |
7 | Civil Disturbance Relief in Kashmiri migrants | 0 | 0.06 |
Total | 20.4763 | 11.603 | |
III | Relief to Border Migrants | 0 | 0 |
Total | 0 | 0 | |
IV | Other Relief Measures | ||
1 | Police Hospital | 2 | 0 |
2 |
Return & Rehabilitation of Kashmiri Migrants (PM's package) |
52.6142 | 29.09393 |
3 | Shifting of Villages on LOC | 0 | 0 |
4 | Surrender Policy | 0.022 | 0 |
5 | Rehabilitation for Widows and Orphans | 2.9541 | 1.1496 |
6 | Relief to Grazers (Hill Kaka) | 0 | 0 |
Total | 57.5903 | 30.24353 | |
Grand Total | 232.22222 | 122.42844 | |
SRE-P + SRE-R&R Total | 600.83577 | 374.79894 |
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2015/CIC/1472
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission