NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday set a target of reducing the crime rate in the country by 20 per cent in the next five years and asked states and Union Territories to use the National Crime Records Bureau data for preparing their annual crime control strategy.
Stating that FIR is a public document, he said central agencies such as CBI, NIA and NCB should be linked to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) which is the centralised online database of FIRs, charge sheets and investigation reports.
The CCTNS is a platform that links 16,390 police stations across the country. All state police are mandated to file FIRs in the CCTNS module.
“Nearly 99% of the police stations in the country are connected to CCTNS. But central agencies are not on this platform. FIR is a public document. What is the secrecy around it? Agencies should not resist... Charge sheet is also a public document. What kind of information has to be shared can be decided professionally by the agencies,” Shah said.
He also asked Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla to convene a meeting of chiefs of all the central agencies to bring them to the CCTNS fold.
At the 37th foundation day celebration of the NCRB, Shah said the NCRB data should help reduce the crime rate in India by 20 per cent in next five years if it is made available to the right people at the right time, is kept in proper format and if a system is adopted for its proper analysis and management.
“The NCRB data should be used by all states for preparing annual strategy for crime control. It should be used in a multi-dimensional and multi-purpose way in crime control.”
Shah recalled his experience as home minister of Gujarat and said NCRB data was helpful in controlling crimes along the border districts.