14,000 police stations to be interconnected to track crime

Aiming to curb rising crime rate, the government has embarked upon a project under which about 14,000 police stations and 6,000 other police offices would be interconnected for evolution of IT-enabled sophisticated tracking system of "investigation of crime and detection of criminals".

The nation wide project, Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), is estimated to cost Rs2,000 crore during the 11th Five Year Plan, Ajay Makan, minister of state for home affairs, said in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour.

The major role in the implementation of the project would be with the state governments and UT Administrations.

The role of the Centre would be largely confined to development and management of the Core Application Software and aspects pertaining to issuing guidelines, review and monitoring of the project implementation. Three states -- Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat -- have developed somewhat similar platforms, Makan said.

Replying to another question, the minister said the government has issued 13 lakh Multi Purpose National Identity cards (MNIC) to the citizens of coastal areas to strengthen coastal security. He, however, clarified that the cards issued by the Election Commission were separate from this card.

This was the pilot project, he said adding the government is planning to cover 3,331 villages and 120 lakh people would be given cards in the first phase.