MHA to urge cabinet to restore funds for Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Services

NEW DELHI: The home ministry plans to urge the Union Cabinet to restore funds for the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Services, or CCTNS, to allow some 14,000 police stations across the country to share data on crime and criminals.

The move follows the finance ministry's decision not to make provision for CCTNS in the 2015-16 Union budget and transfer the scheme to states, which are expected to fund it from their increased share of central taxes.

The ministry of home affairs, however, believes the Centre's coordination is crucial for effective implementation of this system. "By abandoning the scheme mid-way, the gains will be frittered away," a senior home ministry official said. "We will have to come up with a solution where the Centre and states can work together to develop CCTNS. In our proposal before the cabinet, we plan to highlight the advantages of having a system like CCTNS and how it will help the government in its fight against crime and criminals. An interministerial consultations is being held before sending the proposal to the Cabinet," the official said.

Out of `2,000 cr allocated for the system in 2009, the Centre is learnt to have already spent `800 cr in six years. Officials of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which implements and monitors the progress of CCTNS among states, acknowledge that in the past funds have been misutilised by states due to lack of planning and monitoring.