New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said all central agencies should join the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS).


“The Home Secretary should hold a meeting with all the chiefs of Central agencies in this regard,” he added, ANI reported.


The Union Home Minister said the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data should be used by all states to form the yearly strategy for their police force.


“There should be its multi-dimensional, multi-purpose usage for crime control,” he added at the 37th Foundation Day celebrations of the National Crime Record Bureau in the national capital.


Shah said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) should also link the details of their FIR at the CCTNS portal as per the procedure.


The Home Minister termed the NCRB data a “mind” and state police organisations as its “hands and legs”.


Directing NCRB chief Vivek Gogia to focus on the use of NCRB data and its utilization in a better manner, Shah said: “NCRB has been doing well in the collection of data. Now, the time is to utilize its data to curb crime.”


“NCRB data will be useful when states will utilise it in a proper manner,” he added.


Shah further said the data should be used by all states to “form the yearly strategy for their police force”.


“There should be its multi-dimensional, multi-purpose usage for crime control,” he added.


Shah further said there is a “challenging situation” as criminals are getting more efficient in their activities.


“We need to work as per the changing scenario,” he added.


Stressing on the need for criminal justice system, Shah said this can be achieved only through better law and order situation in the county.


What Is Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems?


The Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems is a project under the Indian government for creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through e-Governance.


The system includes a nationwide online tracking system by integrating more than 14,000 police stations across the country.


The project is implemented by the National Crime Records Bureau.


The concept of CCTNS was first conceived in 2008 by the then union home minister P. Chidambaram in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.


This was then approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in 2009 and was allocated a fund of Rs. 2,000 crore.


A pilot phase of the project was launched on January 4, 2013, by the then union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.


Functioning Of CCTNS:


The CCTNS aims to integrate all data and records of crime into a Core Application Software (CAS), which is presently spreading across 28 states and nine union territories.


The CAS, developed by Bangalore-based IT firm Wipro, needs to integrate different software and platforms followed by different states and to digitize records of those states which have not digitized their police records.


The project also involves training of police personnel and setting up of citizen portal to provide services to the citizens.


The project will interconnect about 15,000 police stations and additional 5000 offices of supervisory police officers across the country


It will digitize data related to FIR registration, investigation, and charge sheets in all police stations.


It would help in developing a national database of crime and criminals


The full implementation of the project with all the new components would lead to a central citizen portal having linkages with the state-level citizen portals that will provide a number of citizen-friendly services.


The total outlay for this project is Rs 2000 crore.