Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday quoted Hindu scripture Manusmriti while virtually addressing a conference organised by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Mr. Reddy said that in Manu Dharma Shastra, “Manu has divided the police into two functional departments, namely: the criminal investigation department and the law and order wing.”
He stated, “Our great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata have emphasised the protection of the praja [people] as the most important and basic duty of the king. To implement this, the king could use the concept of ‘danda,’ the ability of the State to punish the guilty.”
Dream of a ‘New India’
Integrated database concepts such as the CCTNS and the ICJS have become indispensable to realise the dream of a ‘New India’, he stressed.
Mr. Reddy was addressing the inaugural session of the 2nd two-day conference on ‘Good Practices in Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS)/ Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS)’ through videoconferencing.
“It is a reality that crime does not follow jurisdictional boundaries. Hence, our response to crime should also not be restricted by boundaries. Immediate recording of crime and the access of the information to all stakeholders is undoubtedly a key aspect of any effective law enforcement operation. This has led to the genesis of the project of CCTNS,” he observed.
“This about ₹2000-crore mission-mode project has revolutionised investigation and policing with its massive reach and connectivity. It has managed to connect the police stations and other offices, even in the most far-flung areas,” he pointed out.
The CCTNS that linked all police stations in the country was started in 2009. Out of the total 16,098 police stations in the country, the CCTNS software was being used in over 95 % of them, connectivity was available at 97 % police stations and 93 % were entering 100 % FIRs through the CCTNS.
