DG of Police KB Singh has urged the State Government to merge the Odisha Police Signal Establishment and the State Crime Record Bureau (SCRB) to make the Crime and Criminal Tracking Networking and System (CCTNS) more effective at the police station level.

Singh has suggested to the Government for creation of a new cadre namely “Odisha Police Information Technology and Communication Services” merging the two establishments.

The DGP feels that shortage of computer-trained manpower in the State police is a major reason for the slow performance of the CCTNS.

With the merger of these two establishments, 789 personnel presently working in the Signal Establishment and 87 personnel of the SCRB can be deployed in the police stations exclusively for CCTNS work.

The personnel posted in the police stations are engaged in crime prevention and detection, law and order, anti-Maoist operations, maintenance of peace in communal and caste conflicts, community policing activities, etc.

They, therefore, find little time to work for the CCTNS. The strength of the State police is not sufficient to meet the present requirement and is much lower than the national average.

The functioning of the CCTNS and future proposal of functioning of a “Citizens Portal” has created a demand of additional technical manpower to operate the computer and communication equipments.

At present, computer-trained personnel of the SCRB are monitoring the implementation of CCTNS from Bhubaneswar. As the number of computer-trained personnel in the SCRB is limited, it becomes very difficult on their part to monitor the whole CCTNS activities smoothly.

If the Signal establishment is merged, additional computer trained manpower can be utilised for this mega CCTNS project. Besides, the Signal staffs are trained in operating and maintaining communication equipments, including computer.

So, these staffs can be a great boost for a smooth implementation of the CCTNS, said the DGP.