Union Budget: Focus on securing frontiers, allocation for MHA rises 15%
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has received a 15 per cent increase in its allocation in the Budget for 2025-26. It has risen to Rs 2,33,210 crore from Rs 2,02,868 crore in 2024-25, with border management receiving a huge 49 per cent jump in the allocation, underlining the importance being attached by the Centre towards securing the nation’s frontiers.
The allocation for border management in 2025-26 is Rs 5,597 crore, a huge 49 per cent increase from Rs 3,756 crore allocated to the ministry in 2024-25.
With India involved in disengagement with China in border areas of Ladakh, especially in Depsang and Demchok, and also facing issues with Bangladesh over fencing of certain sections, mainly in the eastern frontier, the hike in border management funds in the Budget assumes significance.
This funding aims to improve infrastructure at checkposts along the International Border and enhance surveillance capabilities. Of this amount, Rs 359.32 crore is earmarked for maintenance and border checkposts.
However, in stark contrast to this, the Centre’s ambitious Vibrant Village Programme, where infrastructure around villages situated near crucial frontiers bordering China and Pakistan, is being strengthened, has seen a miniscule 0.57 per cent rise in allocation for 2025-26 — to Rs 1,056 crore from Rs 1,050 crore in 2024-25.
The Central Armed Police Forces’ allocation has seen a 12 per cent rise from Rs 96,950 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 1,09,037 crore in 2025-26.
Similarly, the allocation for the modernisation of the police has seen a 9 per cent increase to Rs 4,069 crore in 2025-26 from Rs 3,720 crore in 2024-25.
The grant for women’s safety, however, has witnessed a cut. It has gone down to Rs 960 crore in 2025-26 from Rs 1,105 crore in 2024-25.
Even the support for the poor prisoner scheme has seen a huge fall in fund allotment — from Rs 20 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 5 crore in 2025-26. This has happened even as the MHA has recently asked the states to ensure that an undertrial prisoner arrested for an offence for which the punishment of death or life imprisonment has not been specified should be released if he or she has already undergone detention for half of the maximum prison term specified for that offence, thus reducing overcrowding in jails.
This move is also aimed at giving relief to poor undertrials who cannot fight their prolonged legal battles.
Reduction in the allocation for the poor prisoner scheme thus comes as an apparent setback for the initiative.
Among the key union territories, Delhi’s allocation has seen a rise with the state scheduled to go to the polls on February 5. Its allocation has risen from Rs 1,168 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 1,348 crore in 2025-26.
Chandigarh, too, has received a hike in the allocation from Rs 5,862 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 6,187 crore in 2025-26.
However, Jammu and Kashmir has seen a fall in the allocation, as it has received Rs 41,000 crore for 2025-26 from Rs 42,277 crore in 2024-25.
Ladakh, too, has seen a fall in the fund allocation, as it has received Rs 4,692 crore in 2025-26 from Rs 5,958 in 2024-25.
