Dr Kiran Bedi, Director General, BPRD talks about how computerization and ICT has brought about a paradigm change in the working of the only Police R&D organization in India…
Informatics: How do you perceive the need for utilization of ICT in the area of Policing in the Country? Kiran Bedi : It is not a day late !! It is there but some of us do not realize the amazing value or inherent potential technology has. So a delay of even one day in embracing it actually amounts to many days lost because the overall quality of service provided is less. For instance, all over India, the police is catching criminals and offenders. Just imagine that if all the data about them, including their fingerprints and identification details are stored at a centralized national database and every police personnel had access to that database using palm pods, it would be so easy to figure out whether the offender caught is a first timer or a past criminal. The offender would also know that he/she cannot befool the police as there is strong evidence to prove the track record. This would lead to a huge saving of time which is essential in providing a better service to the citizens of this Country. And also, the victim’s satisfaction and trust level in the police would go up in the process.
Informatics: Tell us about the recently revamped BPRD website. How did the idea originate and was the new structure derived after Knowledge Sharing and study of best practices from other Countries? KB : I have my own website for the past seven years and I use it extensively to reach out to people all over the world. I have always believed in Knowledge Sharing, be it concerning my books, articles, my prison work and now police reforms. I am also involved with two NGOs, which have active websites sharing knowledge and information with the world. I have always had firm belief in the three Ps of People, Police and Public-Partnership and I feel its vital for Police to communicate and take people along. The technology has proved to be a real boon in this situation. By just sitting in a small room, you are able to open up to the rest of the world. So when I took over BPRD, here was this organization, the only one of its kind in India in the area of Research with no parallel bodies in the States and a charter that was truly national in nature. There was a lot of responsibility on the organisation with just a handful of people. So the question before me was, “Do I give up …or find a way out”. Well, technology was that way out for us. We believed that with an active website, BPRD can effectively reach out to the world with the good work it does. Although there was a website already in place, which was relatively unknown and not updated frequently due to the absence of a webmaster. There was also reluctance and mind blocks on the part of the BPRD personnel to use or update the website. We approached a number of organizations trying to seek support for development and management of a new website for BPRD. As luck would have it, around that time only I got to know about the recent taking over of Dr B.K Gairola as Director General NIC. I have known Dr Gairola for a long time ever since NIC’s association with Delhi Police way back in 1982 Asian Games. I was confident about the vision and dynamism of a leader like Dr Gairola and was sure that the answer to our problems lay with him. I met him on the very first of day of him having taken over as DG NIC and requested him to help us out with the revamping of the BPRD website. Needless to say, he gave us an extremely positive assurance and introduced us to the web services team of NIC led by Ms Neeta Verma. With their active support and the relentless efforts of the BPRD web team headed by my colleague Sh Sanjay Beniwal, we were able to develop a whole new website in a record time frame and Dr Gairola launched the same at the recently held BPRD Colloquium.
Informatics: What, according to you is the best feature in the BPRD website? KB : The website is a virtual storehouse of useful information but it is already being quoted because of the availability of Research Study Reports from 1970 to 2007. The way to access these research studies in the website is extremely user friendly. There is a one-page analysis for every report which provides the gist of it and one can straightaway read the recommendations. We have also released these reports in the form of a book during the Colloquium. The main point is that all this information was available for years, but was lying buried somewhere. This website has given all those who are interested a unique opportunity to access these rare reports at a common point in such an easy manner.
Informatics: What is the kind of feedback you have received for these initiatives? KB : Plenty of it…and lots of great feedback from outside of India too. People have considered this to be one of the best and efficient Police websites ever. There are two main reasons for such an encouraging feedback. First, we make sure that we respond personally to all mails and queries the same day. Our guiding principle has always been, “If you invite people, you can’t have your doors shut” Second, we take elaborate care in ensuring that the information on the website is always current and up-to-date. We have full time webmasters to take care of these round the clock.
Informatics : Was there any resistance towards ICT initiatives and website from the staff at BPRD since this would have meant increased workload during the transition period ? KB: There was an initial hesitation but once the website got going, everyone thereafter loved it. Now there is a healthy synergy in various divisions in BPRD to make sure that they are the ones to upload most relevant and fastest information on the Web. Everyone has set targets for uploading information on the site. For the first time, we have Police Commission Reports dating back decades published on the website. We have a system of conducting daily meetings to review the work progress of different divisions and these days, the first thing on the agenda is to discuss what’s new on the website. It has become a treasure of information and even the media is finding it extremely useful. On the first of every month, we take out an advertisement in the newspapers highlighting the important additions and features of the website during that month. I would like to re-iterate that all this has been made possible by the cooperation provided to us by Dr Gairola and his team at NIC. Thank God we have such individuals and such institutions today.
Informatics: What does the future have in store for BPRD with respect to ICT initiatives? KB: We have dedicated the entire next month to brining about total ‘e-governance’ in BPRD. We are planning to computerize all historically important records of previous years which have so far been in paper form and take adequate back-ups so that they can be easily retrieved whenever desired. E-filing is prime on our agenda for the near future. We are also going to make our systems and processes automated so that all information about any forthcoming training programme could be sent electronically to police personnel across the Country. The detailed information and schedules of the police training programmes is also being made available through the website. We are also now planning to put a lot of educational films of road safety, prisons and other related subjects on the web for everyone to access…so sky is the limit !! You can visit the BPRD website at http://bprd.gov.in