Committee to submit report on CCTV supplier today

The committee report on selecting a company to install Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras across

key points in Mumbai and other cities as a deterrent to terrorists will be submitted to home minister RR Patil on Wednesday. 
Based on the recommendations of the report, the government is likely to assign the task of installing CCTVs to the company selected by the committee.

The committee, led by the chief secretary and comprising of the home secretary, finance secretary and the IT secretary, was set up in early 2009 in the aftermath of the November 26, 2008, terror attacks in Mumbai.

Patil insisted that though three and a half years might appear to be a long time, any committee dealing with such a complex subject requires that much time. “If we rush through and select a company, the opposition will jump at us and say there is corruption. If we choose a firm at a higher price, someone will accuse of siphoning of funds,” he said.

The home minister also pointed out that there were some key concerns, one of them being that electronic firms blacklisted by the government should not be considered at all. “The committee report also had to go advocate general for his advice. All this takes time,” he added.Though the cabinet committee usually meets on Wednesday, Patil said he would not be submitting the committee’s report to the cabinet but would take a decision based on it.

The issue of installing CCTVs has acquired an air of urgency after bomb blasts took place in Mumbai and Pune last year and again in Pune last week, after the CCTVs put up by private firms failed to provide adequate footage of the culprits.