Thiruvananthapuram: With assembly elections just days away, state govt cleared Rs 42.89 crore for policing and security arrangements — a scaled-down approval from the Rs 85.61 crore state police chief initially sought.Home department order sanctioned it on March 24 and lays out how the money will be spent to manage everything from polling day deployment to counting centre security and potential post-result law and order issues.Around Rs 12 crore has been set aside to pay special allowances to police and other personnel drafted for election duty. Those deployed on polling and counting days will receive 1.5 times their regular daily allowance, capped at seven days.To supplement the regular force, govt approved the engagement of 25,000 special police officers for two days — polling day and previous day — at Rs 1,400 per day along with Rs 250 as food allowance, totalling Rs 7.62 crore. In addition, 2,000 home guards will be brought in for short-term duty, with a smaller allocation of Rs 25 lakh.The order also shows the scale of logistics behind election policing. Nearly 8,400 vehicles will be hired across constituencies for three days, costing Rs 2.52 crore, with an additional Rs 3 crore earmarked for emergency troop movement. Another Rs 7 crore has been set aside for fuel.Surveillance and monitoring form another key component. Police will hire 2,000 video cameras for polling day at a cost of Rs 1 crore.Other expenditures point to backend requirements of election management: Rs 3 crore each for office expenses and repair and maintenance, Rs 50 lakh for communication and Rs 1 crore allocated as a secret service fund. Feeding arrangements for personnel across forces — including central units — will cost another Rs 2 crore.Besides state’s own deployment, central forces and police teams from other states are expected to be part of the election security grid, as has been the practice in previous assembly polls. Such units have begun area familiarisation and route marches in several districts ahead of polling.In past elections in the state, multi-layered deployment — combining state police, central armed forces and surveillance measures — has been key to managing sensitive booths and ensuring order during counting and post-result phases, suggesting a similar approach is likely this time too.
