MHA provides training, tech help for rollout of criminal laws

As the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) gears up to roll out the three new criminal laws from July 1, it has trained 40 lakh grassroots-level functionaries to ensure that people are aware about these legislations and the impact it will have on everyone, particularly women and children, said officials on Wednesday.

Over 5.65 lakh police, prison, forensic, judicial and prosecution officials have also been trained about the new laws -- the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 - enacted last year. These laws are set to replace the British-era Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.

As the new criminal laws laid emphasis on technology in the investigation, trial and court proceedings, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has made 23 functional modifications in the existing Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS) application under which all cases are registered now in every police station in the country, the sources said. The NCRB is also providing technical assistance to the states and Union territories for seamless transition to the new system. Further, the NCRB formed 36 support teams and call centres for constant review and handholding of the states and Union territories for the implementation of the new criminal laws. For capacity building, the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) has developed training modules and shared it with all the stakeholders. The BPR&D also conducted 250 training courses, organised webinars and seminars in which 40,317 officers and personnel have been trained. As part of this handholding exercise, the states and Union territories have also undertaken capacity building of 5,84,174 people, including 5,65,746 police officers and personnel from prison, forensics, judicial and prosecution, the sources said.