CCTNS stuck due to lack of funds

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s smart policing has got caught in bureaucratic tangle in the Union finance ministry, resulting in state governments seeing red on the issue. The ambitious Crime and Criminal Tracking Network project (CCTNS), which seeks to connect all police stations across the country and make online registration of FIRs a reality in the country, is set to miss its March 2016 deadline as the project has still not got the funds sanctioned to it despite the Cabinet’s nod.

The Rs 2,000 crore project was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Mr Modi in November last year but funds have still not been released by finance ministry.

As a result, state governments are unable to make progress on the project even as the Union home ministry is unable to get a security audit done before it rolls out the network.

“We have completed the groundwork but cannot move forward as the MHA still does not have a budget for it,” a state government official said. Sources in the security establishment said a security audit for the sensitive database and network will take at least two months but due to want of funds, the government body tasked to undertake the audit has refused to proceed for now.

Most states are complaining to the home ministry of being unable to proceed due to the delay in funding, another state official said. In November, the CCEA approved the revamp of the CCTNS and also decided to implement the integrated criminal justice system through the integration of CCTNS with e-courts.