Surrendered militants in the north-east will get an immediate grant of Rs 4 lakh each against Rs 1 lakh earlier, and a monthly stipend of Rs 6,000 besides other benefits, officials said today.
The surrender-cum-rehabilitation policy for the north-east was implemented in 1998 to wean misguided youth and hardcore militants away from the fold of militancy.
This policy was comprehensively revised beginning April 1 to attract more youths into the mainstream away from militancy, as enumerated below, a Home Ministry official said.
"Under the revised norms, a surrendered militant will get an immediate grant of Rs 4 lakh as against Rs 1 lakh earlier. Monthly stipend has been raised from Rs 3,500 to Rs 6,000 for three years," the official said.
Incentives for weapons/ammunition have been increased ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 lakh, provisions for vocational training for self-employment will be provided to all surrendered militants, funds for construction of rehabilitation camps will be provided and there would be compulsory Aadhar biometric registration of those who have surrendered.
The Home Ministry has also conducted a comprehensive review of the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme for the north-eastern states and effected changes from April 1, another official said.
As per the revised policy, ex-gratia for the death of any civilian during insurgency-related violence would be now Rs 2 lakh instead of Rs 1 lakh earlier, compensation in case of death of police personnel has been increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
Compensation for police personnel in case of permanent disability has been raised from Rs 75,000 to Rs 5 lakh, wages for Home Guards hiked to Rs 6,000 per month from Rs 150 per day, honorarium for Village Defence Guard (VDP) doubled to Rs 3,000 from Rs 1,500 per month and maintenance expenses of designated camp for each cadre of SoO (Suspension of Operations) enhanced from Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 per month.
The central government has also sanctioned 10 India Reserve Battalions, two each for Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura. The central government will reimburse 75 per cent of standard cost of raising and half the cost of infrastructure development for these new battalions, the official said.
The Cabinet Committee on Security has approved the Home Ministry's proposal for enhancement in overall cost from Rs 138.95 crore to Rs 212.85 crore for strengthening of police establishments, infrastructure development for creation of 11 new police stations and upgradation of nine existing police stations in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts of Arunachal Pradesh.
Besides, in order to provide connectivity to remote areas as also for providing air connectivity to these areas, helicopter services have been extended to Manipur.
Presently these services are in operation in the states of Arunchal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Mizoram with subsidy of 75 per cent on operation cost from the Home Ministry for fixed annual ceiling of flying hours, the official said.
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