AI-based facial identification to track sex abusers at railway stations
NEW DELHI: The Union govt has informed SC that it plans to set up Artificial Intelligence-based facial recognition systems at seven major railway stations, including Mumbai CST and New Delhi, to curb crimes against women.
The number of sexual offenders recorded in the National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO) has crossed the 20-lakh mark, it further told the court.
Responding to serious concerns raised, through a PIL, by Supreme Court Women Lawyers' Association over the rise in crimes against women, the ministry of home affairs (MHA), in an affidavit, detailed the steps being taken to address the issue and said apart from railway stations, safe city projects have been implemented in eight cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Lucknow - by local police and municipal corporations.
The projects focus on improving safety infrastructure by installing CCTV cameras with facial recognition or automatic number plate recognition, alongside smart lighting systems, and use of drones to monitor high-risk areas, the Centre said. A bench headed by Justice Surya Kant is scheduled to hear the PIL on Monday.
The ministry said: "The Integrated Emergency Response Management System (IERMS) has been made operational in 499 out of 983 major railway stations, ensuring 24X7 security for women passengers.
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Additionally, the Konkan Railway Network has benefited from the installation of 740 CCTV cameras across 67 stations, with plans to expand further using Al-based facial recognition systems at seven major stations, including Mumbai CST and New Delhi".
The MHA said NDSO data includes names, addresses, photographs and fingerprint details of individuals involved in sexual offences like rape, gangrape, eve teasing, stalking, and child abuse.
As of date, it has 20.28 lakh entries available for use by all police stations and law-enforcement agencies in the country through the Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS).
However, the women lawyers' association, represented by senior advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, said additional measures are required as National Crime Records Bureau statistics show a spike in crimes against women from 58.8 per lakh in 2018 to 66.4 per lakh in 2022.
In a rejoinder to the Centre's affidavit, Pavani said, "In 2022, there were 23.66 lakh cases of crime against women pending trial, of which only 1.5 lakh were decided in 2022 and only 38,136 ended in conviction".
The association said, "Introduction of technology-based projects like Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), Crime Multi Agency Centre (Cr-MAC), NDSO, Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offenders (ITSSO), Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to improve and make the criminal justice system efficient are not making a big difference".
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