Govt puts on hold plan to merge police bodies NCRB, BPRD

The government has put on hold a proposal to merge the National Crime Records Bureau with the Bureau of Police Research and Development, apparently due to grievances of the staffers.

In an office memorandum, the Ministry of Home Affairs said the matter related to the merger of the NCRB with the BPRD has been referred for examination and advice to a committee headed by former Union home secretary Madhukar Gupta.

"...It has been decided to keep the said merger order in abeyance till further orders," the memorandum said.

The MHA had on August 4 issued an order on the merger to "improve administrative efficiency and optimal utilisation of resources".

An official said there were apprehensions among the staffers of the two organisations about promotions and career progression and all such issues were conveyed to the top authorities of the MHA, leading to the decision to put on hold the merger proposal.

The move to merge the over three-decade-old NCRB with the BPRD, set up in 1970, was taken to better the efficiency of development works related to policing.

It was expected that the merger will boost crime data collection and research efforts of the two bodies.

The NCRB was created in 1986 as the central police organisation to collect crime data, on various parameters, from across all the states of the country.

It is also implementing the ambitious crime and criminal tracking network (CCTNS).

The BPRD is the national police organisation to study, research and develop on subjects and issues related to policing.

Both the organisations function under the MHA.