(Source
: Press reports from The Hindu Daily newspaper, New Delhi)
The
IT savvy Government of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, drew
up a comprehensive 3-year scheme under the IT-2000 program to computerize
all the 802 police stations of the state. The Police Computer Wing
(PCW) headed by the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. S.T. Ramesh,
took up the task of not only supplying the computers but also networking
them and providing the software.
The
department initially chose the two districts to test the feasibility
of the project-Mandya district was chosen since it is a small district
close to the capital city Bangalore; it also took up the challenging
task of implementing the project in the Gulbarga district of the
state, which is over 600 kms. From the state capital. Some districts
have already been fully computerized such as the Kolar Gold Fields
(KGF) has equipped all its nine police stations with computers.
In all, PCW has supplied computers to 509 of 802 police stations
in the state. The computerization project is being handled for a
huge budget of US$ 3 million. The Police Department has purchased
146 computers and 26 systems in 2000-01 for computerizing 143 police
stations. In 2001-02 it bought 418 computers and five systems.
The
Police Department has distributed "CCIS software" developed
by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) which is expected to
help the police build up a database, solve cases and analyze crimes
and criminals. In order to ensure better policing and to build up
a comprehensive database, crime records dating back to 10 years
are being computerized. As the software helps the police access
the record at the press of a button; the program is expected to
help the police identify criminals quickly and improve the quality
of the rate of detection. The NCRB also has a database on stolen
vehicles and of those involved in the accidents; and it can be easily
accessed by the automobile companies and by individuals on the payment
of a nominal fee.
The
NCRB also plans to improve the access to the facility, known as
the "motor vehicle verification counter" by setting up
more counters in the districts. The Department is also trying to
use the old computers and not discard them. These are being used
for the office work and office automation purposes.
The
Department also intends to impart extensive training to the police
at all levels in the Department. The perception with regard to the
police as well as the crime management is changing very rapidly
with the commencement of rapid computerization in the Department.
Best
regards,
Chetan
Sharma
Executive Director, Datamation, New Delhi(India)
www.datamationindia.com
email : csharma@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in
