CCTNS

Come next year, filing of FIRs at police stations will no longer be a cumbersome exercise. Efforts are on to implement online registration of FIRs across the country, beginning 2013. Home minister P Chidambaram spoke about the possibility, banking on the implementation of his ministry’s flagship project — the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) — that aims to link over 14,000 police stations across the country. “The CCTNS is a project that is under implementation. It would be completely implemented by the end of this year or early next year, and then, online registration of FIRs will be possible,” Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha. Responding to a question by Trinamool Congress member D Bandyopadhyay whether FIRs can automatically get registered at ‘thana’ level, the home minister said, “That is the goal. When the CCTNS is fully implemented, all FIRs can be registered online.” At present, the Delhi Police has a system of “uploading and viewing” FIRs registered in the capital within 24 hours of registration — except those declared sensitive by additional commissioner of police or DCP of the district concerned. This system has been in place since February 1.