VIBHA VERMA
vibha@hearld-goa.com
PANJIM: Goa Police’s attempts at finding digital solutions to reduce the interface with people and speed up detection of crime is encountering mixed reactions with its citizen’s portal fetching good results and the mobile application failing to make the mark.
The State police, which has been working on innovations to get its policing up to the mark and reducing interaction with the aam aadmi, is facing teething problems even after changing over to digital platforms on par with its counterparts across the country.
Senior officials concede that while the month-old Goa Police’s citizen portal has garnered much accolade nationally after being selected as best amongst five such portals pan-India, its sibling – Goa Police Mobile App – has unfortunately failed to attract users forcing the department to nearly shut it down for over a year now. Officials, who had launched the app, claim it is undergoing a major revamp to make it more people-friendly, accessible and easy to download.
In a people-friendly move, in April 2015, the then government had re-launched www.goapolice.org and introduced the app to facilitate lodging online complaints and applying for various services. Unfortunately, these initiatives did not live up to the expectations. The consequence was that the app that offered reporting an offence and traffic violation, besides providing crucial information about emergency services like nearest police station, taxi services, hospitals, fuel station, etc, was discontinued.
The older version nonetheless can still be downloaded on android phones only. From over 4000 downloads, the Goa-based Karbens Infotech Pvt Ltd developed app’s subscribers reduced to 1000-odd with many users expressing dissatisfaction over the complicated methods in filing online complaints.
When contacted Superintendent of Police Karthik Kashyap admitted that the mobile app evoked poor response. “It is almost discontinued for a year or so because of poor response from the public. There was no point to continue in such a situation. It also had some back end issues,” he said.
These experiences have left lessons to be learnt for the department that has asked the agency to rework on the system indicating it is considering re-launching the app. “We will take a decision (on the re-launch) after the final product is available to us. We will examine it to take a final call,” Kashyap said.
Proprietor of Karbens InfoTech Pvt Ltd, Rohit Barreto, maintained they have chalked out a tentative plan with Goa Police. “We are working on recreation of the app but this time we will be doing it step by step. Earlier it was a broad spectrum app with regards to capturing an offence. We have a tentative plan chalked out with Goa Police,” he revealed.
Director General of Police Muktesh Chander had earlier told Herald that he had given a concept to the developer asking them to redesign the app as the old version was not tourist friendly.
The result was the launch of CCTNS and citizen’s portal, on December 19, 2017. While the portal provides nearly all the services, awareness among the people to use the online service is another task.
The portal, that has received over 67,000 hits, offers a bouquet of services to citizens. Services like case document related, missing item related, grievance registration, creating RTI request, employee-tenant-servant- verification and police clearance certificate; reporting crime, advisories on different crucial issues, etc. One can even view his/her FIR. However, awareness among the people is the need of the hour. “People are applying to avail related services but not in large numbers. Increase of awareness is needed, but nevertheless it will start picking up,” Kashyap said.
Goa Police are also breaking into the cyber world with the much-needed online intervention in curbing crimes in the State through the CCTNS project. Officials confirmed that the launch of the first phase does not provide accessibility of data to Goa Police with their counterparts in other states, as Goa uses a different software that has made the linking non compatible, isolating the data. The second and third phase is expected to take care of this lacuna.
Access to the national database is given by National Crime Records Bureau only to a few States like Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation and National Investigative Agency. These states use the Core Application Software (CAS), developed by NCRB. Goa uses the GCOPS software application as state CAS even as it is connected with other states police stations via CCTNS. Gujarat has its own software called GUJCOPS.
“We are unable to access information from other CCTNS connected police stations in the country, although the latter can gain access to our recorded data. Since we are using a personalised software application, unlike the general software under the Central government project, it takes extra effort to bridge utility. We are in the process of doing so,” Kashyap said, adding, “The intra-state connectivity is going strong. All data including FIRs, details of an arrested person, modus operandi, etc, are available through this system.”
Asked if the department is going 100 per cent digital, he said the department, as of now, is carrying out double tasks – manual and digital.
