---
title: "Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme Explained"
description: "The Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme reimburses Indian states for counter-insurgency costs, crucial for managing Left-Wing Extremism in affected areas."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/security-related-expenditure-scheme"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Security Related Expenditure Scheme is a centrally sponsored Indian Ministry of Home Affairs scheme reimbursing states for recurring counter-insurgency costs in Left-Wing Extremism affected districts.
- How does the SRE Scheme differ from the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS)?
- Why is the Centre involved at all if policing is a state subject?
- What expenditure heads are eligible for reimbursement under SRE?
- Which states receive the most SRE funding?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

The Security Related Expenditure Scheme is a centrally sponsored Indian Ministry of Home Affairs scheme reimbursing states for recurring counter-insurgency costs in Left-Wing Extremism affected districts.

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## Positions at a glance

### Supporters

The scheme also embeds a structured surrender and rehabilitation policy for Maoist cadres who abjure violence, providing immediate cash grants, stipends during vocational training, and incentives graded by the weaponry surrendered. SRE funds further support the strengthening of police infrastructure at the operational level and the recurring costs of Counter Insurgency and Anti Terrorism (CIAT) schools where state police and central forces train. The list of districts and states covered under SRE is periodically revised by the MHA to track the changing geography of violence, with districts added or removed as the security situation evolves, and the financial ceilings attached to individual heads such as ex-gratia have been revised upward over time to reflect contemporary costs.

### Opponents

Controversies surrounding the scheme concern the audit and timeliness of reimbursement, disputes over whether particular expenditure heads qualify, and the broader debate over whether a security-led, expenditure-reimbursement approach adequately addresses the developmental and tribal-rights grievances that underpin the insurgency. Critics aligned with the development-deficit thesis argue that funds skewed toward kinetic operations underweight the land, forest and livelihood drivers identified in reports such as the 2008 Planning Commission expert group study. Recent developments include the steady pruning of the SRE district list, periodic upward revision of ex-gratia and surrender incentives, and the integration of SRE with the wider security-and-development strategy that pairs operations with road connectivity, mobile towers, financial inclusion and skilling in the affected belt.

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Example

In 2024 the Ministry of Home Affairs reduced the number of districts covered under the SRE Scheme to reflect declining Maoist violence, with Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha remaining the principal recipient states.

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