Police stations across India will be connected by 2012: PC

The Rs 2,000-crore project to bring all 16,000 police stations in the country under a single network to counter terror challenges will become operational by 2011-12, said Home Minister P Chidambaram on Friday.

He also said the Multi Purpose National Identity Cards will be issued to 1.1 billion resident Indians after the completion of enumeration work next year.

"We are working on the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems. That will link each of the 16,000 police stations in India, so that one police station can contact another police station," he said, inaugurating a conference of small entrepreneurship in New Delhi. Chidambaram said all the states had appointed nodal officers and had signed memoranda of understanding with the Centre for its early completion.

The completion of CCTNS will mark a quantum leap in India's ability to counter various challenges to internal security, particularly terror threats.

The home minister asked technocrats to help the government build a national counter-terrorism centre on the lines of the US.

"If the US can have a national counter-terrorism centre, why can't we have one in India? So, I wish that your entrepreneurial activities will help us build a sound technology-based system that will enhance the security and efficiency in India," he said.

The home minister said after successful completion of the pilot project of biometric identity card system, the government would cover 3,331 coastal villages and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands this year under the scheme.

He said over 1.1 billion people will be enumerated under the biometric identity card system. "This year, we are covering 12 million people in 3,331 coastal villages and the whole of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Next year, we will cover the whole of India -- the 1.1 billion people. Following that we will issue a unique identity number to every resident Indian," he said.

Chidambaram said the unique number would be applicable for income tax, excise duty, ration card, old age pension and National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, besides other uses.

Image: Home Minister P Chidambaram