Why in news?
Minister of Home Affairs has recently launched Digital Police Portal under the CCTNS project.
What is CCTNS?
- The Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems is an Indian government project for web based policing.
- It was conceived as a response to the Mumbai attacks of 2008 and approved in 2009.
- It aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through e-Governance.
- The system is already in operation in many states but with a limited coverage.
What are the features of the Portal?
- The portal is part of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) that aims to integrate the CCTNS project with a larger database.
- It aims at integrating various organs of the criminal justice system with the CCTNS database.
- This include the police, courts, prisons, forensic laboratories, juvenile homes, etc.
- It facilitates a pan-India search of crime and criminal records of individuals through a national database.
- It offers 11 kinds of search and 44 types of reports.
- Also, it will provide for the citizens to register FIRs online and also to register complaints against erring police officials.
- It gives them access to seven public delivery services which include among many -
- person/address verification of employees, tenants and servants.
- permission for hosting public events.
- reporting lost and found articles and vehicle theft
- The portal has a scope of extending its domain further to the databases like vehicle registrations as well.
What is the way forward?
- Criminal investigations and decisions can now become more informed.
- However the success of this potential game-changer project will depend on data accuracy and its judicious utilisation.
- Government has to ensure this while going ahead with the revolutionary initiative for the justice system.
Source: Financial Express
