Fingerprint scanners in districts: Centre's revised procedure for foreigners ID portal
After facing technical issues in uploading biometrics of detected illegal migrants on Foreigners Identification Portal (FIP) of the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS), the Centre has revised the procedure for the portal and asked states/UTs to now use fingerprint scanners available in districts under districts police module (DPM) of Immigration Visa Foreigner Registration Tracking system (IVFRT).
The MHA in a communication earlier this month said that it has decided to review the tools of DPM and FIP for the deportation of illegal migrants with all stakeholders and found that several states/UTs were facing issues regarding digitization of fingerprints captured on paper and sending it to the NCRB for digitization. An official said that this led to 'certain gaps between data of taking fingerprints on paper by manual scanning as compared to digital record'.
The official said, 'It has been decided by the Centre that the infrastructure and equipment of NAFIS will not be used for collecting of biometrics of detected illegal migrants on the FIP portal… Now onwards, the fingerprint scanners available at district under DPM of IVFRT will be used.'
To facilitate deportation of illegally staying Rohingyas, the MHA had launched a portal in 2018 to collect biographic and biometric details after giving access to all states/UTs, the communication said.
'The DPM was rolled out in 2023 to enhance the capabilities for identification of overstaying foreigners and later the portal was upgraded into a comprehensive portal — FIP to cover illegal migrants from all countries. It was then decided that for capturing biometrics of illegal migrants in FIP, NAFIS machines provided by the NCRB, will be utilised and that biometric data will be captured in the standardised format for inter-operable use,' the official said.
The NCRB three years ago had implemented the NAFIS project, providing equipment to all districts, police commissionerates, state fingerprint bureau, the central fingerprint bureau and central law enforcement agencies to establish a national repository of criminal fingerprints.
Also, the fingerprint identification system of all States/UTs has been integrated with NAFIS, creating a national repository of 1.06 crore criminal fingerprint records till October 31 last year. Later, the database of FIP was also added in the NAFIS.
After reviewing, it has been decided that fingerprint, scanners, computers and webcams will also be provided to police stations, especially in the identified hotspots, in the holding (detention) centres and also in the Border Out Posts (BOPs) manned by the Border Guarding Forces for collection of biometrics of detected illegal migrants, and uploaded by agencies concerned on the FIP.
'…the Ministry of External Affairs will take further action for getting nationality verification of the cases of illegal migrants, referred to them on the FIP Portal by the Foreigners Registration Office (FROs),' an official said.
'The Bureau of Immigration has been made the nodal authority at the Central level through Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRROs) for the FIP and they have to ensure two things: the migration data from the FIP to IVFRT system and data will not be transferred to the NAFIS now onwards,' a senior official said.
Mahender Singh Manral is an Assistant Editor with the national bureau of The Indian Express. He is known for his impactful and breaking stories. He covers the Ministry of Home Affairs, Investigative Agencies, National Investigative Agency, Central Bureau of Investigation, Law Enforcement Agencies, Paramilitary Forces, and internal security.
Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat.
During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives. ... Read More
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
29 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Union Minister's claims about Malappuram teen's death baseless, says Kerala Forest Minister Saseendran
Kerala Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran on Tuesday (June 10, 2025) termed as "half-truths" and "baseless" the reported claims by regarding the State's powers to kill wild animals and the recent death of a teen in Malappuram due to a live wire trap laid for wild boars. Mr. Saseendran said that the Union Environment Minister was merely reiterating the allegations of the Opposition with regard to the boy's death. He denied that there was any negligence on the part of the State government as was reportedly claimed by the Union Minister. Mr. Saseendran also said that while the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWC) has powers to order killing of a wild animal which causes loss of life or property in populated areas, a standard operating procedure (SOP) has to be followed before issuing any such direction. One of the requirements under the SOP is to constitute a local area committee which shall also include a representative of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the Forest Minister said. He said that there are similar impractical requirements in the SOP which hamper the decision to be taken by the CWC. "We sent a letter requesting the Central government to give relaxations with regard to such requirements in the SOP. However, there is no response yet on that and the Union Minister was silent about it when he spoke to the media," Mr. Saseendran contended. He claimed that such "double standards" of the Centre were responsible for the sufferings of the people living in the forested hilly regions of Kerala. Mr. Yadav, while reportedly speaking to the media in Delhi a day ago, had blamed Kerala government for the death of the boy and also claimed that the Centre has issued guidelines permitting panchayats to kill wild boars if they pose a threat to human life and property. 15-year-old Ananthu, alias Jithu, a Class 10 student, died after coming into contact with a live wire from an electric fence set up illegally on a private land to trap wild boars at Vazhikadavu in Malappuram district on Saturday.
Hans India
9 hours ago
- Hans India
‘Goonda governance': BJP slams Congress over crackdown on Hindu leaders
Mangaluru: Escalating its criticism of the Congress-led Karnataka government, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra on Monday launched a fierce attack on what he termed the 'goonda behaviour' of the administration, alleging a state-sponsored campaign to target Hindu leaders following the murder of Bajpe-based activist Suhas Shetty. Addressing reporters at the BJP district office, Vijayendra alleged that the police, instead of nabbing the culprits, were raiding homes of Hindu activists in midnight crackdowns. 'We are seeing a collapse of governance—law and order has become a tool of political vendetta,' he said. The BJP chief accused the government of selectively protecting Congress leaders while unleashing legal action on Hindu voices. 'When Hindu leaders speak up, cases are filed. But when Congress members like Ivan D'Souza speak against the Prime Minister and Governor, there is no action,' he claimed. Vijayendra welcomed the Centre's decision to hand over the Shetty case to the NIA, asserting that the state government showed little interest earlier in facilitating an impartial probe. He also questioned the intent behind the state's anti-communal task force, calling it a 'mechanism to instil fear among BJP loyalists.' Echoing similar concerns, Leader of Opposition R Ashoka said, 'Police stations in Karnataka have started resembling Congress party offices. There's no differentiation between patriots and anti-nationals in the way law is being applied.' Ashoka also responded to questions over Suhas Shetty's alleged rowdy history, remarking that even prominent political leaders have faced legal cases. 'Let the court decide what is criminal and what isn't,' he said, while urging an unbiased probe into other recent violent incidents including the murder of Rehman. The BJP's southern leadership, including D V Sadananda Gowda, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, MP of Dakshina Kannada Capt. Brijesh Chowta and several MLAs, stood in support of what they described as a growing atmosphere of political suppression in coastal Karnataka—an area long considered a BJP bastion.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Time of India
Union minister blames Kerala govt for teen's electrocution death in live wire wild boar trap, cites ‘deliberate negligence'
Kozhikode: Union environment minister Bhupendra Yadav faulted state govt for the electrocution death of 15-year-old Anandu near Kalikavu in Nilambur from a live wire trap set up to capture wild boars on Saturday night. Speaking to the media in New Delhi on Monday, Yadav said that the electrocution was due to state govt's deliberate negligence. "Anandu, who was killed in electrocution from wild boar trap, is the latest in the series of deaths by electric fences in the last few years. In 2025 alone, three persons were killed in the district (Malappuram). The electrocution was the result of deliberate negligence by state govt of Kerala and the local authority claiming several innocent lives," Yadav said. To address the wild boar issue, Centre has issued guidelines to the state to implement a few measures, including giving powers to panchayats to kill the animals if they posed a threat to human life and crops, he said. On state govt's demand for amendment in Wildlife Act to enable killing of wildlife which posed threat to life and property, Yadav said Centre had already given state govt the power to kill wild boars and it is being carried out. Centre had in 2021 rejected Kerala govt's request to declare wild boar as vermin and Union minister's remarks pointed to no change in Centre's stand. Yadav said there were a total of 344 deaths in state during the last five years, of which 180 (around 60%) were due to snake bites outside forest limits. Besides that, 103 deaths were due to elephants, 35 by wildlife, nine by gaur, four by tiger and 13 by other animals, he added. Anandu had died after coming into contact with a live wire trap set for hunting wild boars at Vellakatta near Vazhikadavu in Nilambur. Police have arrested Nambyadan Vineesh, 36, of Puthiripadam, who had allegedly laid the live wire trap near a stream along the forest fringes for poaching of wild boars. He was booked under section 105 of BNS (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). The investigation into the case has been handed over to district crime branch.
