PM's SMART police plan may include web-based FIR filing, online court case monitoring

In a bid to make the Indian policing system more approachable and easier for the common man Prime Minister Narendra Modi's SMART police plan that was announced in December last year could include a web-based system of filing FIRs and online monitoring of the status of court cases, amongst other practices.

The Home Ministry is reviewing processes implemented in different states such as web-based FIR filing, mobile app for assistance in emergencies, online monitoring of court case status, e-challans, community policing and online access of vehicle database, according to a report in the Economic Times. The practices chosen under SMART police plan will be further replicated across the country.

The Home Ministry has been conducting workshops for the past two months at various centers to study the best police practices and implement them across India.

Union home secretary LC Goyal had chaired a meeting on May 25 to discuss the SMART police plan. He praised UP government's Transparency in Recruitment Process (TRP) and the Central government's SMART police plan is likely to take inspiration from it.

The TRP system calls for an automated system of evaluation during trials for police recruitment. The police have been under the scanner for favoritism during recruitment process. The TRP will thus minimize human intervention in the entire process.