NCRB 2022 report on crime in India

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)?
• News Summary: NCRB 2022 report on crime in India
• What does the 2022 NCRB report say?
• Limitations to the data compiled by NCRB

Why in news?

• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released its annual report on crime in India for the year 2022.
• The report is a compilation of data on reported crime from across the country, and provides the big picture of broad trends in crime registration.

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)

• About
  • NCRB is an Indian government agency (headquartered in New Delhi) established in 1986 and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India.
    • It was set up based on the recommendation of the National Police Commission, 1977 and a Task force, 1985.
  • It is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data (as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws).
• Function
  • It also serves as a repository of such information to aid investigators in tracing crimes and criminals.
  • It also acts as a national warehouse for the fingerprint records of Indian and foreign criminals, and assists in locating interstate criminals through fingerprint search.
  • NCRB was entrusted with the responsibility for monitoring, coordinating and implementing the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems(CCTNS) project in the year 2009.
  • In 2017, NCRB launched the National Digital Police Portal.
    • The portal allows police officers to look for a criminal or suspect on the CCTNS database and gives citizens with services such as online complaint filing, etc.
• Reports published
  • Along with the Crime in India report (oldest and most prestigious publication brought out by NCRB), It also publishes - Prisons Statistics India Report.
• Compilation of data for NCRB reports
  • Crime in India reports, information is obtained from the police forces of 36 states and Union Territories.
  • Similar data are furnished for 53 cities with populations exceeding 10 lakh each as per the 2011 Census, by respective state-level crime records bureaus.

News Summary: NCRB 2022 report on crime in India

What does the 2022 NCRB report say?

• Decline in the registration of cases
  • In 2022, a total of 58,24,946 cognizable crimes comprising 35,61,379 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 22,63,567 Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes were registered.
  • This was a decline of 4.5% in the registration of cases over the second pandemic year, 2021.
• The crime rate has declined
  • The crime rate, or crimes registered per lakh population, has declined from 445.9 in 2021 to 422.2 in 2022.
    • This is seen as a better indicator, since absolute numbers on crime increase as the population increases.
• Increase in crime against women
  • 4,45,256 cases of crime against women were registered in 2022. This was an increase of 4% over the 2021 numbers.
  • The largest share of crimes against women under IPC sections was registered under:
    • Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives (31.4%),
    • Kidnapping & Abduction of Women (19.2%), and
    • Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty (18.7%).
• Reporting of cybercrime increased significantly
  • Reporting of cybercrime increased significantly by 24.4 percentage points compared to 2021, to 65,893 cases.
  • Around 64.8% of registered cases were of fraud, followed by extortion (5.5%), and sexual exploitation (5.2%).
• An increase in suicides cases
  • An increase of 4.2% was observed in suicides reported during 2022 (1,70,924 suicides) as compared to 2021.
  • Family Problems (other than marriage-related problems) (31.7%), Marriage Related Problems (4.8%) and Illness (18.4%) have together accounted for 54.9% of total suicides in the country during the year 2022.
  • The overall male-to-female ratio of suicide victims was 71.8 : 28.2.
  • Headline trends in state-wise data
    • The states/ UTs reporting the highest charge sheeting rate under IPC crimes are Kerala (96.0%), Puducherry (91.3%), and West Bengal (90.6%).
    • This is the percentage of cases in which the police reached the stage of framing charges against the accused, out of the total true cases (where a charge sheet was not laid but a final report submitted as true, plus the total cases charge sheeted).

Limitations to the data compiled by NCRB

• Data not reflective of actual occurrence of crime
  • The NCRB report underlines that the data record the incidence of registered crime, not the actual occurrence of crime.
  • So, when reported crimes against women in Delhi rose significantly in the aftermath of the 2012 bus gangrape case, it may have been a reflection of increased awareness about the need for registering crimes.
• Limitations due to Principal Offence Rule
  • The NCRB follows what is known as the Principal Offence Rule.
  • This means that among the many offences registered in a single FIR, the crime that attracts the most severe punishment is considered as the counting unit.
  • Thus, ‘Murder with Rape’ would be counted as ‘Murder’, not rape — which would result in an undercounting of the crime of rape.
• Inefficiency at the local level may impact the accuracy of the report
  • Since the NCRB report is only a compilation of data submitted at the local level, inefficiencies or gaps in data at that level have an impact on the accuracy of the report.
    • E.g., the FIR would be recorded by a policeman or policewoman who visits the suicide spot.
    • The reason that is recorded for the suicide would depend entirely on how the policeman or policewoman understands the situation.
• Socio-economic causative factors are not captured
  • The NCRB itself notes that the socio-economic causative factors or reasons of crimes are not being captured by the Bureau.
• Other factors affecting the data
  • Because of a range of reasons, including the fear of an uncooperative or a hostile response from the police, certain groups may not be willing to come forward and register cases.
  • And a shortage of police officers or unfilled vacancies in the relevant posts at the local level may hinder the collection of data.

Q1) What is Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS)?

 The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) is an Indian government project that aims to improve the efficiency of policing.

Q2) What is National Digital Police Portal?

The National Digital Police Portal (NDPP) is a web-based policing project of the Indian government. The portal was launched on August 21, 2017 by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The NDPP is a smart policing initiative of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Source: How to read the NCRB 2022 report on crime in India | The Hindu | Hindustan Times