• Cabinet approves umbrella scheme of Modernisation of Police Forces. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 27th September gave its approval for implementation of umbrella scheme of “Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF)” for years 2017-18 to 2019-20.  The financial outlay for the scheme over the three-year period is Rs.25,060 crore, out of which the Central Government share will be Rs.18,636 crore and the States’ share will be Rs.6,424 crore. Special provision has been made under the Scheme for internal security, law and order, women security, availability of modern weapons, mobility of police forces, logistics support, hiring of helicopters, upgradation of police wireless, National Satellite Network, CCTNS project, E-prison project etc.
  • Cabinet approves extension of implementation of Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems Project by one year. In April, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the proposal of the MHA for extension of the implementation phase of the Crime and Criminals Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) Project for another year beyond 31st March, 2017. The extension would help in achieving the remaining objectives of the project comprehensively. The maintenance phase of the Project will continue till 2022 as approved earlier. With a total outlay of Rs. 2,000 crore, a sum of Rs. 1,550 crore, which was the total allocation to the project so far, has been spent till 2016-17.
  • The Mos (Home) Hansraj Gangaram Ahir reviewed the working of CCTNS, on April 6, 2017. Union Home Minister launches the Digital Police Portal under CCTNS project. The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched the Digital Police Portal under the CCTNS project in New Delhi on August 21, 2017. The MHA will undertake steps to integrate the various organs of the Criminal Justice System such as the Police, Courts, Prisons, Prosecution, Forensic Laboratories, Finger Prints and Juvenile Homes with the CCTNS database. This Interoperable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) will be a useful resource for all stakeholders including the policy makers. The Digital Police Portal will enable citizens to register FIRs online and the portal will initially offer seven Public Delivery Services in 34 States & UTs. The CCTNS portal will provide investigator the complete record history of any criminal from anywhere across the country.
  • MHA gives a boost to “Make in India” in the field of manufacturing of arms. In October, the MHA liberalised the Arms Rules to boost “Make in India” manufacturing policy of the Government as also to promote employment generation in the field of manufacturing of arms and ammunition.
  • BSF Air Wing inducts own pilots and crew. The Air Wing of Border Security Force (BSF) added a new chapter with the induction of its own pilots and crew on 9th February, 2017. MoS, Kiren Rijiju became the first dignitary to be flown by “all BSF” aircrew, aboard the MI-17 V5 helicopter from Guwahati. Till now the BSF aircrafts were being operated by Aircrew from the Indian Air Force.
  • Union Home Minister chaired the review meeting of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected States. On 8th May, the Union Home Minister carried out a review of the situation in the ten LWE affected States. On specific directions of the Home Minister, Districts Magistrates and SPs of the 35 worst affected LWE districts were also present. Rajnath Singh  enunciated an operational strategy ‘SAMADHAN’ to fight Left Wing Extremism. The elements of this strategy are S for Smart Leadership, A for Aggressive Strategy, M for Motivation and Training, A for Actionable Intelligence, D for Dashboard-based Key Result Areas and Key Performance Indicators, H for Harnessing Technology,  A for Action Plan for Each Theatre and N for No access to Financing.
  • The Union Home Minister again convened a meeting in New Delhi on 4th August to review the status of development projects and security related issues in LWE affected states. During the meeting different development projects including Road Requirement Plan, air connectivity, power, education, health and banking sectors were reviewed.  Under RRP-1, 4433 km roads have been constructed which include 1504 km road constructed during the last three years in the most difficult areas.  The Home Minister asked to expedite the remaining roads at the earliest.
  • Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting of the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Home Affairs on “LWE related issues” in New Delhi on 29th August. He informed the members that the LWE scenario exhibits significant improvement over the years and the declining trend continued in the last three years. As compared to data of 2010, year 2016 reflected a decline of 53% in number of violent incidents and 72% in resultant deaths and the trend continued in 2017. Rajnath Singh further informed the members that this year overall situation so far also indicates a declining trend and the number of violent incidents has declined by 25.6% as compared to corresponding period of 2016.
  • Rajnath Singh  chaired High Level Meeting on the LWE situation in Chhattisgarh, on November 3, 2017. As part of efforts to enhance skill development, Chhattisgarh has been sanctioned 09 ITIs and 14 Skill Development Centres. The initiatives taken to improve education infrastructure include approval of 02 Kendriya Vidyalayas at Bijapur and Sukma and 03 JNVs at Bijapur, Narayanpur and Kondagaon. Jagdalpur Medical College has been approved for up-gradation as Centre of Excellence at a cost of 200 Cr under PMSSY.
  • Union Home Minister operationalised the New Intelligence Set-up of SSB. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh operationalised the New Intelligence Set-up of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) at a function in New Delhi on 18th September. This marked the culmination of a long pending aspiration of the Force following approval of the Union Home Minister. SSB has been declared as the Lead Intelligence Agency (LIA) for both the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders. MHA has accordingly sanctioned 650 posts in various ranks from Battalion to Frontier Headquarters.
  • Centre appoints Dineshwar Sharma as its Representative in J&K. The Government has appointed Dineshwar Sharma, former Director of Intelligence Bureau, to initiate and carry forward a dialogue with elected representatives, various organizations and concerned individuals in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Considering the positive initial response from different sections of people in J&K, it is expected that all stakeholders in the state who believe in peace would support the Government initiative and join the dialogue process.
  • Union Home Minister pays 4-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir. The Union Home Minister paid a four-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir from September 9-12, 2017. Addressing a press conference in Jammu, Rajnath Singh said that the Centre is trying to ensure equitable development in all the three regions of J&K. Several projects are under implementation under PMDP. The Centre has decided to give 3,000 jobs to migrants from Kashmir valley and Rs 1,080 crores have been sanctioned to the state under this head. The Government has increased the compensation for those who get killed in ceasefire violations from Rs 1 lakh to 5 lakh. The Government has also decided to construct 6,000 Transit Accommodation in the Kashmir valley. He said that the Government has also allocated a package of Rs 2,000 crores for the rehabilitation of POJK migrants.
  • CRPF’s Helpline in J&K. The CRPF Helpline was launched in J&K on June 16, 2017. The Helpline has been started to build bridge of trust and confidence with citizens.
  • 2nd meeting of National Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction. Rajnath Singh inaugurated the two-day second meeting of National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (NPDRR) in New Delhi on 15th May. The theme of the Second meeting of NPDRR was “Disaster Risk Reduction for Sustainable Development: Making India resilient by 2030”.
  • NIA Hqrs new Office Complex inaugurated. The Union Home Minister inaugurated the new Headquarters Office Complex of the NIA in New Delhi on October 10, 2017. Rajnath Singh said the NIA recently launched a crackdown on terrorism funding in the Kashmir Valley sponsored from a hostile neighbouring country and their accomplices in third countries abroad. He said the Government initiated steps to grant full autonomy to the NIA in investigations.
  • West Zone Regional Training Centre of IB inaugurated in Jodhpur. The Union Home Minister inaugurated the West Zone Regional Training Centre of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), in Jodhpur, Rajasthan on 16th October. The purpose of the training centre is to strengthen and professionally empower the State Police Special Branches. The West Zone will include states of Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
  • New HQs building of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D). The Union Home Minister inaugurated the new HQs building of BPR&D, Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi on 8th September.
  • Foundation Stone laid of NIDM. MoS Kiren Rijiju laid the foundation stone of the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) in New Delhi on February 17, 2017.
  • Foundation Stone laid of new NDRF Campus in Andhra Pradesh. Union Home Minister laid the foundation stone of the new NDRF campus at Konda Pavuluru, Andhra Pradesh, on 9th January. This campus will come up in 50 acres land provided by the Andhra Pradesh Government and the expenditure for construction will be borne by the Central Government.
  • Kiren Rijiju presents Country Statement at Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction at Cancun, Mexico. A high level Indian delegation headed by MoS Kiren Rijiju participated in the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) at Cancun, Mexico from May 22-26, 2017. While presenting the Country Statement,  Kiren Rijiju briefed about the steps taken by India, after the adoption of the Sendai Framework.
  • 4-day-long BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise – 2017 held. The first Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, Disaster Management Exercise (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) was held from October 10-13, 2017. Members of the BIMSTEC i.e Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal participated in the four-day exercise, conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the nodal agency in Delhi and the National Capital Region.
  • Union Home Minister chairs the first meeting of CMs of 5 States on Indo-China Border in Gangtok.  Rajnath Singh chaired the review meeting of Chief Ministers bordering with China, in Gangtok on 20th May. He said the Central Assistance for Border Area Development Programmes (BADP) has been enhanced from Rupees 990 Crore in 2016-17 to Rs. 1,100 crore in the current financial year.
  • Union Home Minister chairs meeting to review Indo-Myanmar border issues. The Union Home Minister chaired the meeting of Indo-Myanmar Border States at Aizawl, Mizoram on June 12, 2017. He informed that to address specific developmental needs of border areas along international boundaries, allocation under BADP to 17 border states has been raised to Rs. 1,100 cr. in 2017-18.
  • Union Home Minister reviews measures to check cyber crimes in financial sector. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a meeting of all agencies concerned and representatives of relevant states in New Delhi on 13th November to review the progress of the decisions taken during the meeting taken by him on September 19, 2017 for curbing the financial sector frauds emanating from the usage of cards and e-wallets in particular.
  • Women’s Police Stations set up in Kohima and Dimapur for empowering women. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking on the occasion of Hornbill Festival 2017 as Chief Guest on December 8, 2017, commended the role of the State Government in raising Nagaland’s 15 India Reserve (Mahila ) Battalion and setting up of Women’s Police Stations in Kohima and Dimapur for empowering women.
  • Rajnath Singh inaugurates Web Portal “Bharat ke Veer” to enable people to contribute towards family of martyrs. The Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the web portal and mobile application named “Bharat ke Veer” on April 9, 2017. The portal is an IT based platform, with an objective to enable willing donors to contribute towards the family of a braveheart who sacrificed his/her life in line of duty.
  • Cabinet approves enhancement of the age of superannuation of Medical Officers of Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles. The Union Cabinet on July 12, 2017 gave its ex-post facto approval for enhancement of the age of superannuation in respect of doctors Central Armed Police Forces and Assam Rifles from 60 to 65. It would help in retention of officers in Specialist and General Duty Medical Cadre and thereby help in better patient care, proper academic activities in Medical colleges as also in effective implementation of National Health Programmes for delivery of health care services.
  • MHA Mobile Application launched for Grievances Redressal of CAPF personnel. The Union Home Minister launched the MHA Mobile Application for grievance redressal of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) personnel on May 11, 2017. The Union Home Minister also launched BSFMyApp on the occasion. The MHA Mobile App provides a common system in which all personnel of various CAPFs can submit their grievances through a Mobile Application and the same provides respective Forces to receive the submitted grievance for further action. The Mobile application also has a provision for MHA to continuously monitor the action taken by various CAPFs on their grievances and regulate the process for further improvement in the Grievance Redressal System.
  • Welfare and Rehabilitation Board (WARB) Mobile App for CAPF personnel launched. On 18th September, the Union Home Minister launched the Welfare and Rehabilitation Board (WARB) Mobile App for CAPF personnel. The App is available on Google Play store and is user friendly. It contains various useful features to facilitate retired CAPFs and Assam Rifles personnel to get their genuine grievances redressed, re-employment and other relevant and important information.
  • BSF and NSDC sign MoU on Skill Development. The BSF signed an MoU with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in New Delhi on 31st July in the presence of MoS (Independent Charge) Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju. The MoU will enable NSDC to provide “Skill training to retired and retiring BSF personnel, as well as to the population residing in the border areas.
  • Indian Police contingent makes a record breaking haul of 321 medals during the World Police & Fire Games held in the US. A 101-member Indian Police contingent returned with a record breaking haul of 321 medals from the World Police & Fire Games held in USA in August. The contingent bagged 151 Gold, 99 Silver and 71 Bronze medals in the seven events they participated in the Games held in Los Angeles, California, from August 7-16, 2017.