Delhi govt plans to provide parents with live-feed of CCTVs in classrooms

The Delhi government has developed an app, called 'DGS Live', through which parents can get a live view of cameras installed in classrooms for about five minutes per class

The Delhi government will soon provide parents with a live feed of CCTVs installed in classrooms in all Delhi government schools.

On November 24, the Delhi government submitted a standard operating procedure (SOP) to the High Court for live streaming of CCTV footage installed in schools.

According to the SOP, the government has developed a mobile app called "DGS Live", through which parents can get a live view of the cameras, which can only be accessed for five minutes per session, shift, or class. After the credentials of parents are verified, usernames and passwords to use on the app will be auto-generated through the command control centre (CCC) system.

According to a report in the Indian Express, the government has installed 146,800 CCTVs in 700 schools, and has allocated a budget of Rs 30 crore for the project.

The SOP further stated that parents will not be permitted to zoom in, take screenshots, or record the footage. To avoid misuse of the footage, the government will provide access to only classroom activities, and screen recording and camera live-recording of classrooms will be blocked to ensure privacy of students.

An official said, “One class/period is conducted for 35 minutes and parents will be able to access the live feed for only five minutes per class. In this, they need not log-in again to access the live view of the next class, it will be renewed. Also, access will be provided to only one registered mobile number of the parent. No outside person will have this access.”

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The official added that the main objective behind this project by the Delhi government is to curb crime, and provide a feeling of safety and security to parents and students. The official said, “It will also assure parents that proper teaching is going on in the class. Besides, it will enable the respective heads of schools to supervise better, in terms of whether a teacher is arriving in class on time, etc. It will also act as a deterrent to crime and aid investigation in case of any untoward incident on the school premises.”

The SOP, prepared by the Directorate of Education (DoE) and the Public Works Department (PWD), stated that the school management committee (SMC) has the right to disallow access to any parent in case of a proven complaint of misuse, according to the Indian Express report.

The decision to install cameras in schools was taken following an incident in 2017, where a seven-year-old student was murdered in the washroom of a Gurgaon school. In January this year, the high court asked the government to prepare an SOP in this regard.

A Delhi government official, “We have prepared the SOP and filed it with an affidavit. We have developed a mobile app through which the parents can access live-streaming of the class in which their ward is studying. The app is currently in the testing phase and once it is done, it will be rolled out.”