What is the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)?

About National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)

• It was established in 1986 to act as a repository of information on crime and criminals. 
• It comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India.
• It was set up based on the recommendations of the Tandon Committee, the National Police Commission (1977-1981) and the Task Force of the Home Ministry.
• It is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as well as serving as a repository of such information to aid investigators in tracing crimes and criminals.
• Headquarters: New Delhi
• In 2009, the NCRB was entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring, coordination, and implementing the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) project. This project connects about 15,000 police stations and 6,000 high offices in the country.
• In 2017, the NCRB launched the National Digital Police Portal, which 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.
• The Bureau has also been entrusted to maintain the National Database of Sexual Offenders (NDSO) and share it with the States/UTs on a regular basis.
• NCRB has also been designated as the Central Nodal Agency to manage the technical and operational functions of the ‘Online Cyber-Crime Reporting Portal’ through which any citizen can lodge a complaint or upload a video clip as evidence of crime related to child pornography, rape/gang rape.
• The NCRB has also launched CyTrain, a portal for online training of different stakeholders in cybercrime investigations and prosecution. 
• The Central Finger Print Bureau under the NCRB is a national repository of all fingerprints in the country.
• NCRB also compiles and publishes National Crime Statistics i.e. Crime in India, Accidental Deaths & Suicides, and also Prison Statistics. 
• NCRB also assists various States in capacity building in the areas of Information Technology, CCTNS, Finger Prints, Network security, and Digital Forensics through its training centers in Delhi and Kolkata.

Q1) What is the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) project?

It is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of Govt. of India. It aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of policing. This will be achieved through creation of a nationwide networking infrastructure for the evolution of IT-enabled-state-of-the-art tracking systems around 'Investigation of crime and detection of criminals'. It thus seeks to computerize Police Processes (FIRs, Investigations, Charge sheets, Challans) and inter-link all Police Stations to create a central database by deploying a Core Application Software (CAS) in each state.

Source: Delhi leads in rate of FIRs of crimes against women: NCRB data