E-policing in doldrums

The seventh anniversary of the Mumbai attacks is an apt occasion to evaluate the efficacy of the Crime and Criminal Tracking and Networks and Systems (CCTNS). It was among the multitude of bipartisan initiatives kick-started after the shock waves of the three-day massacre had ebbed. The intention was not just to track down a criminal moving from one place to another. It was supposed to make the common man’s life easier by introducing e-governance in policing. The CCTNS aims to automate the country’s 14,000 police stations and link them electronically to courts and jails. In other words, the system will save several hours of waiting and pleading at police stations, besides several thousands of rupees as slush money to keep the files moving.

The main catch in its continued success was financing. The states pushed it along till the Centre kept pouring in money. Its success depended on fault-free and smooth-running computer hardware and software systems, which needed regular doses of funds for replacements and maintenance. Though the Centre gave funds to all the states, progress was patchy. Karnataka, which has adopted the Citizen’s Charter as part of its governance model, is the best performer. It digitised its data base of criminals and eliminated any scope for suppression of facts through initiatives such as SMS updates at every FIR cycle. Relatively better governed states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are also far ahead than UP, Bihar and Punjab.

The project went on life support after the new government took office at the Centre. The Finance Ministry told the states to fund the CCTNS from their increased share of Central taxes. Strapped for money at the best of times, all states have put the brakes on the project. The Centre will be forced to make extra allocation to the states to keep the CCTNS going. Hundreds of unpaid IT vendors are ruing their involvement in the CCTNS. The problem, however, is systemic and stems from the abolition of the Planning Commission. The Centre will be forced to make more such handouts to keep several vital Central schemes going.