20-Sep-2018: Government launches National Database on Sexual Offenders.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched two portals to strengthen women safety in the country. The portal - cybercrime.gov.in - will receive complaints from citizens on objectionable online content related to child pornography, child sexual abuse material, sexually explicit material such as rape and gang rape. The National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO), accessible only to law enforcement agencies, will assist in tracking and investigating cases of sexual offences.
Two portals launched today are part of efforts in the direction of strengthening security of women and children. However, several challenges have to be overcome by the police at the ground level to ensure speedy justice to the victims. He urged them to fully utilize potential of the two portals and update the database regularly for greater effectiveness.
Union Minister of Women and Child Development - Maneka Sanjay Gandhi urged the law enforcement agencies to pay special attention to the safety of children at shelter homes. She also underlined the need for provision of forensic kits at police stations for quick investigation of sexual crimes. She also asked the police to take prompt action in cases where a husband abandons wife shortly after marriage.
Meanwhile, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba highlighted the need for timely completion of investigation in sexual crimes to instill deterrence among potential offenders. While appreciating the progress made by Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh Police, he said the MHA will monitor progress in all the states.
The Cyber Crime Prevention Against Women and Children (CCPWC) portal enables complainants in reporting cases without disclosing their identity. This will not only aid the victims/complainants but also help civil society organizations and responsible citizens to anonymously report complaints.
Complainants can also upload the objectionable content and URL to assist in the investigation by the state police. The complaints registered through this portal will be handled by police authorities of respective state/Union Territories. Another feature enables a victim or complainant to track his/her report by opting for "report and track" option using his/her mobile number.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will proactively identify such objectionable content and take up with intermediaries for its removal.
The second portal unveiled by the Home Minister relates to the National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO). It is a central database of "sexual offenders" in the country which will be maintained by the NCRB for regular monitoring and tracking by the State Police. The database is accessible only to the law enforcement agencies for investigation and monitoring purpose. The database will include offenders convicted under charges of rape, gang rape, POCSO and eve teasing. Currently, the database contains as many as 4.4 lakh entries. The database includes name, address, photograph and fingerprint details for each entry. However, the database will not compromise any individual's privacy.
10-Aug-2018: Induction of all-women SWAT team of Delhi Police
The Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, inaugurated the building of the Office of DCP South- West district, Police station Delhi Cantt & Delhi Police Residential complex. He also presided over the induction ceremony of the all-women SWAT team of Delhi Police.
The construction of new complexes strengthens the basic infrastructure of the department, which leads to new energy in the personnel towards their duty, finally benefitting the citizens. The society has a lot of expectations from Delhi Police and to meet these expectations, it needs modern working place and good working environment.
The Government has increased the fund allocation to Delhi Police from Rs 6378.18 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 7426.98 crore in the year 2018-19, resulting in an increase of 15%. Government has sanctioned procurement of Facial Recognition System for the Crime Unit and 2,700 handheld devices with SIM Card for equipping constables with e-beat book.
The Union Home Minister expressed happiness over the fact that the Delhi Police has raised an All-Women SWAT Team by inducting 40 women Commandos for Anti-Terrorism duty under the Special Cell. This team has been trained by NSG. Mentioning that the women SWAT commandos will be deployed during the Independence Day celebrations, Shri Rajnath Singh congratulated Delhi Police for this initiative in the direction of women empowerment. He further said that Delhi Police has given an opportunity to women to prove themselves by entrusting them with new responsibility. He also said that all these women police personnel belong to the North Eastern states and he termed it as an example of integrating various regions in Delhi Police. He also appreciated Delhi Police for providing free self-defense training to about 3 lakh female students/working women and housewives, thus making them independent.
Keeping in mind the safety of women, he said that Rs. 10.13 crore have been released in 2017 for security initiatives including self-defence training to women. He also said that representation of women has increased in Police after the Centre’s decision to provide 33% reservation to women in police force at the constable to sub-inspector level in the UTs including Delhi.
The Home Minister said the citizens got benefitted by many other important schemes of Delhi Police. He quoted examples of ‘Eyes and Ear Scheme’ Prahari Yojana, Operation Milaap, Anti Auto Theft App, Online PCC, Senior Citizens App and Last Report. All these schemes indicate new approach and modernization of Delhi Police.
He said that a proposal to recruit 12,000 additional personnel in Delhi Police is under consideration, out of which, he added, approval has been given to recruit 3,139 police personnel. Besides, the Government has created 4,227 posts in the year 2016 and another 3,139 posts this year while separating the Crime Investigation from the Law & Order functions with an aim to improve the conviction rate.
21-Jul-2018: Union Home Minister launches the Student Police Cadet (SPC) programme for nationwide implementation
The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh launched the Student Police Cadet (SPC) programme for nationwide implementation at a ceremony in Gurugram, Haryana. In his address on the occasion, the Home Minister expressed hope that the SPC would lead to a silent revolution over the years by focusing on character building by imparting moral values to budding minds. He expressed concern that education these days stressed more on mere book reading with little attention being paid towards character building of students, which shows negative effects on society in terms of increased crime.
Coping with rapid modernization and cut-throat competition, schools have focused all their attention towards building careers and rising incomes, creating tremendous pressure among the young minds. While the dawn of new technologies, internet and social media have helped our children keep pace with the changing times, it has adversely impacted our society as we witness the breakdown of the traditional family system and worrying rise in incidents of crimes and rapes.
The SPC programme would help in making students responsible citizens by inculcating values of respect to the elderly, discipline, social responsibility and through police-student interaction. The SPC programme will provide a healthy interface between schools and police peace and inculcate in the students aspects of public safety, discipline, patience, tolerance, empathy, respect of senior citizens, social harmony, traffic sense and a corruption-free environment. The youth of tomorrow who emerge out of such programme would bear ethical values of social commitment and be aware of social evils such as drugs, alcohol abuse, intolerance and vandalism. He expressed confidence that this programme would result in overall development of a student’s personality and bring big change in society.
The Home Minister appealed to all stakeholders- teachers, parents, students, police and officials- to participate with enthusiasm and execute the SPC as a Mission Mode project. The SPC project will also help the police assess their image in the public eye and strive for improving confidence and winning trust of the people. SPC initially will be launched as pilot programme in all States and Union Territories.
The SPC programme focuses on students of Classes 8 & 9 and special care has been taken to ensure that it does not lead to increase in the workload of the students. The programme does not have any prescribed textbook nor is any exam envisaged. Only one class in a month is proposed. The programme seeks to cover broadly two kinds of topics, - crime prevention and control; and values and ethics.
20-Jul-2018: Union Home Minister to launch Student Police Cadet Programme tomorrow
The Student Police Cadet (SPC) Programme is scheduled to be launched nationally on the 21st July, 2018 by the Union Home Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh.
The programme seeks to build a bridge between the Police and the larger community through school students by inculcating values and ethics in them through classes in school and outside. The programme focuses on students of class 8 & 9 and special care has been taken to ensure that it does not lead to increase in the workload of the students. The programme does not have any prescribed text book nor is any exam envisaged. Only one class in a month is proposed. The programme seeks to cover broadly two kinds of topics: Crime prevention and control; and Values and ethics
Under the first part, the topics covered are – Community Policing, Road Safety, Fight against Social Evils, Safety of Women & Children, Fight against Corruption and Disaster Management. The topics covered under the second part are – Values & Ethics, Respect for Elders, Empathy & Sympathy, Tolerance, Patience, Attitude, Team Spirit and Discipline.
A Handbook has been prepared by BPR&D for imparting instructions with the support of NCERT. There is greater emphasis on field demonstrations and hands on learning of the functioning of the Police through visits to Women Police stations, Child Protection Homes including NGOs, Traffic Police and Fire Brigade Stations. There will also be learning through group discussions, audio-visual mediums etc.
The programme shall be steered by a State level committee to be headed by the Principal Secretary, Home Department with the Principal Secretary, Education and Director General of Police as members. There shall be a similar committee at the district level headed by the District Magistrate with the District Inspector of Schools and Superintendent of Police as members.
An amount of Rs.67 crores has been released to the States for implementation of the programme. An amount of Rs.50,000 shall be earmarked for each school to be spent on educational aids, training and contingency. The Programme shall be at first implemented in Government schools in both urban and rural areas.