Context: Technology for service delivery to citizens needs to be prioritised by police leadership. This is a task it can focus on without political interference
Implications of the inefficient criminal justice system:
Economic: Economic cost is reflected in the reluctance of foreign companies to set up manufacturing and commercial ventures in India for want of quick settlement of criminal, labour and civil disputes.
Social:The social implications can be gauged from the report, “Crime in India 2019”, published by the National Crime Records Bureau.
As per the report, 25,023 cases of assault on women, 11,966 rape cases and 4,197 “dowry deaths” have been pending trial for five to 10 years.
Political: The procedures are non-transparent, and timelines are often blurred.
They encourage corrupt practices, as can be seen from the ongoing saga in Maharashtra, where top police officers are facing allegations of extortion.
Technology has not been prioritised; according to India Justice Report 2020 - despite the push for digitisation, no state offered the complete bouquet of services and often face accessibility issues.
Gaps in technology: Indian Police Journal 2020 found that “most sites were available in English or Hindi, but not necessarily in the state language”,—leading to accessibility issues.
Lost enthusiasm for change: Police made a good start at the beginning of the millennia but probably lost interest midway. There are two reasons for it –
One, police leaders do not understand the difficulties that citizens face at the police station level;
Two, citizens fail to hold us accountable for the non-use of technology.
Way Forward:
Bring in Technology-driven service delivery mechanisms: Geared towards –
Improvement in investigation and prosecution and reducing the delays by ensuring time-bound delivery of the above-mentioned services to citizens.
Ensuring transparency by a defined process with a timeline and clear delineation of the levels of police officers involved.
Helping states: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) earmarked about Rs 20,000 crore for the modernisation of police (2017-2020) for schemes such as crime and criminal tracing networks and systems (CCTNS), police wireless and e-prisons. States can take up this crucial service delivery mechanism.