Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to launch studies with a database of 6.5 lakh persons with criminal records. In April 2017, a technology-security company Smart Chip Private Ltd was allotted the project to execute the project. The state-level committees drafted the plan and later that month a work order of Rs 53.6 crore was issued and the project’s contract.
All police stations across the state, as well as other agencies involved in the detection of crime, have the data available to them. They entrusted the entire task to a private firm, which has completed the work professionally. In November 2016 when Devendra Fadnavis was chief minister, his government granted administrative approval for the project as per guidelines agreed by the state home department.
Senior professionals and government aid told the media that they have specific data on about 6.5 lakh under-trials and convicts. The bureau of fingerprint experts has validated the entire data. It will help law enforcement agencies track criminals and that too at whirlwind speed. Automated multimodal biometric identification system (AMBIS), is different data digitization. Five years ago, Rs 54-crore proposal was approved for the AMBIS.
The company has secured fingerprint, palm print, face, and biometric data of the under-trials and convicts and it has incorporated the same in the system. As a result, it will be possible for law-enforcing agencies to quickly trace the history of a crime suspect. As per the directives of the hardware kit committee under AMBIS, the data centre has been set up at BSNL, Mumbai. A software data centre, too, has been set up.
Further, there will be a calamity recovery site at BSNL’s Ahmedabad data centre. Maharashtra government has imparted training to 2,600 officers and employees on the effective operation of the system. They have drafted a master plan for providing specific technology knowhow to all police stations, police units, training centres, all central prisons and fingerprint units.
