Extension of Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems Project up to March 2015

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has today approved:

i. Extending the duration of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) project, scheduled to end on 31st March 2012, by another three years i.e. up to 31 March 2015.

ii. To permit release of unutilized funds beyond March 2015 to States/UTs and if it becomes necessary, then the Ministry of Home Affairs shall be competent to make the fund releases with the approval of Home Secretary/Home Minister without seeking formal extension up to a period of one year i.e. up to March 2016.

Funds to the tune of Rs. 418.87 crore have been released to the State/UTs. About 4.54 lakh personnel have been trained under capacity building against a target of about 11.34 lakh personnel. Capacity Building (Infrastructure) has been completed for 861 units out of a target of 902 units. 17 States/UTs have issued Lols/signed contracts for the selection of System Integrators whereas 31 States/UTs have issued RFPs.

The inter-ministerial consultations for project conceptualization during 2008-09 took time. Moreover, General Elections in 2009 and enforcement of Model Code further extended the approval process. While the project implementation was envisaged from 2008-2012, the Cabinet approval was received only on 19th June 2009, which was a year later than envisaged. Other downstream activities including signing of MoUs, formation of governance structure committees, establishment of state designated agencies and selection of SPMCs was thus delayed as well. Also, it was conceptualized that the software development would be completed within one year of hiring the vendor i.e. by June 2011 including gathering software functional requirements from three States/UTs. However, the number of States were later expanded to 10 States/UTs to ensure maximum coverage. This added to the delays in the software development in the project.

Background:

CCTNS is a project which aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of policing at the Police Station level through adoption of principles of e-Governance and creation of a nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state-of-the-art tracking system around "investigation of crime and detection of criminals". The project cost is Rs 2000 crore which is hundred percent centrally funded.

The project will benefit more than 15000 police stations and more than 5000 higher police offices across the 35 States/ UTs. Capacity building and change management is targeted towards more than 2 million police personnel for effective delivery of services. The Scheme had been planned for only four years viz 2008-2012 under the XI Five Year Plan period (2007-2012). The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved the scheme and its implementation strategy on 19th June 2009 and the key project implementation activities were initiated by all States/UTs from 2009-2010.