Govt moving at snail speed on hi-tech crime tracking system

New

, Jan 5: The government should not delay the implementation of

and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), envisaged in 2009. It should in fact coerce state governments to hasten the process as law and order is a state subject under the Constitution.

Under the national e-governance plan, the CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of policing in 'investigation of crime and detection of criminals'. The project will connect 14,000 police stations throughout the country besides 6000 higher offices in police hierarchy e.g. Circles, Sub-Divisions, Districts, Range, Zones, Police Headquarters, SCRBx including scientific and technical organisations having databases required for providing assistance and information for investigation and other purposes e.g. Finger Print Bureaux, Forensic Labs etc. by 2012.

This will help in detection and investigation to gather evidence. Most of the cases fail because of improper or tardy investigation. In 2009, over 2.38 lakh cases were registered for crime against women where charge sheets were filed in about 1.64 lakh cases but there were only 27,977 convictions.

In 2010, over 2.13 lakh cases were registered followed by 1.72 lakh charge sheets and 30,270 convictions. In 2011, over 2.28 lakh cases were registered, 1.78 lakh charge sheets were filed and only 30,266 convictions secured.

An allocation of Rs 2000 crore has been made for CCTNS Project. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the project in 2009.

Yesterday, a pilot project was launched by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde which will allow online filing of FIRs/complaints possible in Delhi.

The system includes creation of a nationwide networking infrastructure for evolution of state-of-the-art tracking system around 'investigation of crime and detection of criminals'. It will pave the way for sharing crime-related information on real-time basis across all police stations and other law enforcement agencies' offices in the country.

After the launch, Union Home Secretary RK Singh said the CCTNS would be a comprehensive database for crimes and criminals, and it would be easier for the law enforcement agencies to track down a criminal moving from one place to another.

Singh said it will bring more transparency in police administration as a person can lodge complaint online and get a status report of the complaint online too. "This will be a wide data base. It will help in arresting criminals and investigating cases. This will be a big milestone," he said.

Singh said it would also help senior police officers to keep a tab on people's complaints and progress of any investigation.

Objectives of 'CCTNS'

The objectives of the Scheme can broadly be listed as follows:
1. Make the Police functioning citizen friendly and more transparent by automating the functioning of Police Stations.
2. Improve delivery of citizen-centric services through effective usage of ICT.
3. Provide the Investigating Officers of the Civil Police with tools, technology and information to facilitate investigation of crime and detection of criminals.
4. Improve Police functioning in various other areas such as Law and Order, Traffic Management etc.
5. Facilitate Interaction and sharing of Information among Police Stations, Districts, State/UT headquarters and other Police Agencies.
6. Assist senior Police Officers in better management of Police Force.
7. Keep track of the progress of Cases, including in Courts.
8. Reduce manual and redundant Records keeping.

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