National Crime Record Bureau

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in India publishes a comprehensive report on crime, covering various categories such as financial and commercial crimes, crimes against women, and cybercrimes. The report, collected by the State Crime Records Bureau and sent to the NCRB at the end of each calendar year, provides detailed information on registered cases and arrested persons. In 2022, 58,24,946 cognizable crimes were reported, a 4.5% decrease from the previous year. The crime rate per lakh population decreased from 445.9 in 2021 to 422.2 in 2022. Crimes against women increased by 4%, with the highest percentages under IPC sections for 'Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives,' 'Kidnapping & Abduction of Women,' and 'Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage Her Modesty.' Cybercrime reporting surged by 24.4%, primarily involving fraud, extortion, and sexual exploitation. Suicides saw a 4.2% increase in reported cases, primarily due to family problems, illness, and marriage-related issues.

NCRB was established in January 1986 based on the recommendations of the Tandon Committee. It was formed by merging the Inter-State Criminals Data Branch, Directorate of Coordination and Police Computer (DCPC), and Central Finger Print Bureau of CBI. It collects and analyzes crime data, aiding investigators in tracing crimes and criminals. In 2009, NCRB was tasked with monitoring, coordinating, and implementing the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) project. In 2017, NCRB launched the National Digital Police Portal, allowing police officers to search for criminals or suspects on the CCTNS database and providing citizens with online complaint filing services.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is an Indian government agency established in 1986 under the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi and is primarily responsible for the collection and analysis of crime data, for offences covered under various national and local laws. The primary goal is to enhance planning and decision-making processes through crime-related information.

• Ensure that all Indian criminals' fingerprints are kept in a national database.
• Develop, oversee, and direct the creation of Police IT applications.
• Compile data and keep track of national statistics about crime and offenders.
• Creation and upkeep of a national database for law enforcement organizations.
• To plan, direct, and support the operation of the State Crime Records Bureau and to provide training resources for the Crime Records Bureau personnel.
• To maintain official documents and case-related conclusions up to date for the federal and state governments.

• Crime Data: The collection and preservation of crime data is required.
• Central Finger Print Bureau & the Fingerprint Analysis and Criminal Tracing System (FACTS): It helps locate interstate criminals through fingerprint searches and serves as a "national warehouse" for the fingerprint data of foreign and Indian offenders.
• Project implementation: The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) project is under its purview. Its duties include oversight, management, and execution. Approximately 15000 police stations and 6000 high offices nationwide are connected by the CCTNS project.
• Updating NDSO: It is also in charge of regularly updating and disseminating the National Database of Sexual Offenders (NDSO) to the States and UTs.
• Monitoring the Online Cybercrime Information Portal: It is responsible for managing the technical and functional aspects of the portal, which allows citizens to report incidents of child obscenity, rape, and gang rape, as well as gather evidence.
• National Digital Police Portal: maintained by NCRB to provide information to both citizens and police personnel. It is a nodal site under CCTNS and contains interoperable access to FICN, Cri-MAC & iMoT.
• Cri-MAC (Crime – Multi Agency Centre): Launched by NCRB to send inter-state crime/ gang/ criminal alerts through email/ test message for coordination.
• Maintaining FICN & iMoT: It keeps up the Integrated Monitoring Application on Terrorism (iMoT) and the Counterfeit Currency Information and Management System (FICN).
• Publishing NCRB Report on Crime India: It includes information on crimes that have been recorded from all around the nation. At the end of each calendar year, the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRBx) gathers information from the District Crime Records Bureau (DCRBx) for the NCRB report, which is then forwarded to NCRB. It includes detailed statistics on:-
  • persons arrested and their disposition;
  • castes registered and their disposition.
• Driving Public Policy & Research
  • Publishes reports on ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides’, ‘Finger Prints in India’ & ‘Prison Statistics’. This data is key for policy makers, researchers and media.
  • It also conducts an annual conference of Heads of FingerPrint Bureaus to discuss pertinent issues and challenges in forensic investigations.
• Capacity Building: Undertakes training sessions for States & Regional Police Computer Training Centres (RPCTC) on IT issues.

• Reduced Registration: A decrease in registration of cases was observed in 2022. Out of all cognizable offenses, 22,63,567 under Special and Local Laws (SLL) and 35,61,379 under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were recorded.
  • There has been a decrease in case registration of 2,71,364 (4.5%) compared to 2021 (60,96,310 cases).
• Cases which were Chargesheeted: Kerala (96.0%), Puducherry (91.3%), and West Bengal (90.6%) are the states and union territories that record the highest charge-sheeting rates under IPC crimes.
• Criminal activity Ratio: In 2022, there were 422.2 recorded crimes per lakh inhabitants, a decrease from 445.9 in 2021.
  • The number of cases reported per lakh people is referred to as the crime rate.
• Murder Cases: In 2022, 28,522 murder cases were reported, indicating a little decrease of 2.6% from 2021 (29,272 cases).
• Crime against Women: There were reports of 4,45,256 crimes against women in 2022. There was a 4% rise in instances as compared to 2021 (4,28,278 cases).
  • The primary cause of the high number of crimes against women (31.4%) was "Crutality by Husband or His Relatives," which was followed by "Kidnapping & Abduction of Women" (19.2%) and "Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty" (18.7%).
  • State with highest rate of crime against women: Delhi had 14,247 cases, or 144.4 percent of all crimes against women, compared to the national average of 66.4.
• Cybercrimes: There were 65,893 cases reported, a 24.4% increase over 2021. Fraud accounted for almost 64.8% of incidents that were reported, with extortion coming in second at 5.5% and sexual exploitation at 5.2%.
• Suicides: Compared to 2021, there were 4.2% more recorded suicides in 2022.
  • Principal cause of suicide: "Family problems (other than marriage-related problems)" (31.7%), "Marriage Related Issues" (4.8%), and "Illness" (18.4%) accounted for 54.9% of all suicides in the country in 2022.
  • The total male to female ratio among suicide victims was 71.8:28.2.
  • State with highest rate of suicides: Maharashtra (22,746), Tamil Nadu (19,834), Madhya Pradesh (15,386), Karnataka (13,606), Kerala (10,162), and Telangana (9,980) reported the highest number of suicides during the year.
  • The suicide rate by occupation shows that, among all suicides reported in India in 2022, self-employed or salaried professionals accounted for 9.6% of the total, while jobless people made up 9.2%.
  • More than 12,000 student suicides were reported throughout the year.
• Kidnapping and Abduction: In 2022, there were 1,07,588 reported cases of kidnapping and abduction, a 5.8% rise from 1,01,707 cases in 2021.
• Offense against Children: From 1,01,707 recorded cases of kidnapping and abduction in 2021 to 1,07,588 cases in 2022, there was a 5.8% increase in these incidents.
• Crime against Senior Citizens: A 9.3% increase from 2021 to 285,545 cases of crimes against Senior Citizens (those over 60) were reported.
• Crime and Atrocities Against Scheduled Castes (SCs): In 2021, there was a 13.1% increase in incidents involving SCs.
  • Crime rate: From 25.3 in 2021 to 28.6 in 2022, this was the documented crime rate.
• Crime/Atrocities against Scheduled Tribes (STs): The number of cases recorded for crimes against STs demonstrates a 14.3% rise from 2021.
  • Crime Rate: In 2022, it increased from 8.4 to 9.6 percent.
• Economic Offenses:Forgery, cheating, fraud (FCF), criminal breach of trust, and counterfeiting are the categories under which economic offenses fall.
  • The bulk of instances (1,70,901) were related to FCF, with criminal breaches of trust (21,814 cases) and counterfeiting (670 cases) following closely behind.
  • According to the Crime in India report, in 2022, government officials seized counterfeit Indian currency notes (FICN) worth over Rs. 342 crore.
• Corruption Cases: The State Anti-Corruption Bureaus (ACBs) reported 4,139 cases in 2022 as opposed to 3,745 instances in 2021, a 10.5% increase in cases.
• Environment-Related Offenses: A 17.9% decline in incidents was seen, with 52,920 being filed under this category compared to 64,471 in 2021.
• Crime Against Foreigners: In 2022, 192 offenses (including tourist and resident) were registered against foreigners, compared to 150 incidents in 2021, a 28.0% increase.
• Human Trafficking: from 2,189 cases in 2021 to 2,250 cases in 2022, there was a 2.8% increase in reported incidents of human trafficking.

• Respect to the Principal Offense Rule: Under this rule, out of all the offenses specified in a single FIR, the offense with the highest penalty is considered for data classification.
  • According to this, rape crimes are undercounted since murder is classified as "murder" rather than "rape."
• Local Data Inefficiencies: Since the NCRB report is only a compilation of local data, it is susceptible to errors or inconsistencies in the data supplied at the local level.
  • Collecting data is made more challenging by a local shortage of police officers or open employment in similar fields.
• Reporting Error: Not all crimes are reported, in States like Kerala there is improved crime reporting however this does not mean that more crimes are being committed there. In north Indian states it is difficult for women to report crimes and this leads to underreporting also.

• Transformation of Police Forces: As crime has changed, police now need to use cutting-edge technology and collaborate with one another to combat it.
  • E.g. Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) has been introduced for the advancement of an IT-enabled, cutting-edge tracking system centered on "investigation of crime and detection of criminals". Within the National e-Governance Plan of the Indian government, CCTNS is a Mission Mode Project (MMP).
• Judiciary reforms: By implementing structural adjustments, performance criteria, and capacity building, it should seek to improve accountability while decreasing systemic delays and arrears. The necessary actions are:
  • Honesty and Accountability in the Appointment Systems
  • Rapid submission of judgments e.g. National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) is a flagship initiative that was introduced in 2015 to track case disposition and pending status in Higher Courts and Subordinate Courts.
  • The National Judicial Infrastructure Authority of India was established with the goal of enhancing the court systems' infrastructure.
  • With the goal of transforming the Indian judiciary through the ICT enablement of courts, the eCourts Project was conceived based on the "National Policy and Action Plan for Implementation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Indian Judiciary
  • eSewa Kendras: In order to promote inclusivity in the delivery of justice and alleviate the effects of the digital divide, eSewa Kendras have been established to offer litigants and attorneys electronic filing services.
  • For technology-enabled summonsing and process serving, National Service and Tracking of Electronic Processes (NSTEP) was created. As of right now, 28 HCs have adopted it.
  • Sugamya-Friendly, Scalable, and Secure Website as a Service (S3WAAS) website: A new website designed with the needs of the disabled in mind, available in 13 regional languages so they may use assistive technology to access the content.
• Prison Reforms: These should include creating alternatives to incarceration, offering educational and career-training programs, and putting in place programs for the treatment of mental illness and drug addiction.
  • The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has finalized a comprehensive 'Model Prisons Act, 2023', to provide holistic guidance and address gaps in the existing Prisons Act.
  • Project for Modernization of Prisons (2021-26): Through the Project for Utilizing Contemporary Security Equipment in Prisons for:
    • Improving jail security, the government has chosen to financially support States and UTs.
    • to make jail administration programs easier for the mission of reforming and rehabilitating convicts.
  • E-Prisons Project: By digitizing jail administration, the E-Prisons project seeks to improve efficiency.
  • 2016 Model Prison Handbook: The handbook gives convicts comprehensive information about the legal services—including pro bono services—that are accessible to them.
• Welfare Program for the Poor: To solve the issues faced by India's impoverished, government action is required.
  • There is a complicated and sometimes tense relationship between poverty and crime.
  • A haven for criminal activity is created when basic needs are unaffordable and there are no opportunities for social or economic progress.
  • Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana: All beneficiaries covered by the National Food Security Act (NFSA) [Antodaya Anna Yojana & Priority Households], including those covered by Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), are given 5 kg of food grain per person per month at no cost under this welfare plan.
  • Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme: to lessen fraud in the delivery system and provide a quicker and easier flow of cash and information to the recipients.
    • Schemes under DBT: There are 310 Schemes from 53 Ministries under DBT. Some important schemes are:
      • Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
      • National Food Security Mission
      • Pradhan Mantri Krishi Yojana
      • Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana
      • PM KISAN
      • Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin
      • Atal Pension Yojana
      • National AYUSH Mission
• Improve NCRB: States need to use NCRB data to develop their yearly police strategy, which should be multifunctional and used for a variety of purposes in the fight against crime.

NCRB has done commendable work in the field of Data Digitization and was recognised with a Runner’s Up medal at the Digital India Awards 2016. It has been the emphasis of the government to stay two generations ahead of the criminals and only then can India’s criminal justice system be effective. NCRB is at the forefront of these rapid developments as it has become the nodal interoperable agency for crime data in India with FICN, NDSO, CCTNS, Cri-MAC & iMoT.

According to India's 2022 NCRB report on crime statistics, there has been a decrease in total instances of crimes reported however this is not uniform with some regions and some crimes being reported more than the years before e.g. ‘Crimes against Women’. The Report also draws attention to concerns with undercounting, data limitations, and sociopolitical influences on reporting. Hence, the data must be taken with a pinch of salt.

Consistent work must be done to improve the overall criminal justice delivery mechanism along with improved welfare programmes in the country to secure true Justice as the Indian Constitution aspires. As India enters Amrit Kal and moves towards 100 years of Independence focus is on use of technology to modernize the justice system. The government aims to produce over 9000 forensic science officers annually in the next five years. The hope is to make justice more accessible, affordable, and accessible through technology.