BHUBANESWAR: For the first time, Odisha Police will receive the DG NCRB Running Trophy for empowering police with in-house use of information technology (IT) under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems Project (CCTNS).
The award is given to top performers among state police forces in technology use and comes at a time when the 5T mantra of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to improve governance and public delivery is being given emphasis.
This is a feat for the state where policing was primarily considered conventional while other States took to technology to usher in reforms.
Director General of Police Dr RP Sharma said the award is a recognition for the state police in appreciation of mobile app ‘Arakhi’ which it has been using successfully under CCTNS system.
As on date, about 11.87 lakh FIRs related to cases since 2005 are on CCTNS database searchable from CCTNS terminals or ‘Arakhi’ app which can be used by officers across police stations.
The app was launched by the Chief Minister in January and is seen one of the best for police officers in the country. Besides, several other services have been offered to public which has worked very well.
Many of them are free while some are on a paid basis.
Recently, the Orissa High Court had directed that all police FIRs and charge sheets submitted to courts be generated through CCTNS System. The State has also started the implementation of the Inter Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) which will integrate the criminal justice system like courts, police, prisons, prosecution and forensic science laboratories on a single data grid.
Similarly, plans are afoot for the online transfer of FIRs and charge sheets on a pilot basis for all police stations in the jurisdiction of SDJM, Cuttack. For this, approval is awaited. The goal is to extend ICJS to the entire State by the end of the year which will reduce delay and make the system transparent and reliable.
Odisha Police has already started digitisation of the fingerprint system which is expected to be complete in two months time.
The State police has also floated an RFP for deployment of Artificial Intelligence to fully exploit the big data created since data is huge and expanding.
The CCTNS is a centrally-funded project for which the state government received Rs 66.8 crore. After funding was stopped last year, the entire project is fully funded by the state government for which Rs139 crores will be spent.