Rajnath Singh asks Railway Ministry to make online FIR facility available to passengers

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Wednesday said that he will ask the Railway Ministry to start a facility by which passengers can file FIRs online. Stating that administrative issues, at times, cause harassment to people, Singh said it will be better to have online FIR facility.

Singh said, “There is no facility for a passenger to file an FIR online. If somebody is travelling by train (and something happens), he needs to visit the Government Railway Police (GRP) police station to get an FIR registered. It will then go to the state, to the district and eventually to the police station concerned. There is no guarantee that he would get the desired justice.”

He further said that he will ask the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officers to sit with the Ministry of Railways and coordinate over this online FIR so that in case a person is travelling in a train, he can file an FIR.

“You (Railway Ministry official) need to discuss and decide on this (online FIR). We will provide all possible support from the Ministry of Home Affairs,” he said, citing the ‘crime and criminal tracking network and system or CCTNS’ for the integration of state police work implemented by his



ministry.

Singh said he would look into whether the online filing of FIRs by railway passengers can be integrated into the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) system, that allows citizens to lodge FIRs electronically.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said he would look into the home minister’s suggestion of online filing of the FIR. According to official data, about 24,000 cases of theft are registered by railway passengers annually.

Apart from proposing the facility of online FIR, Singh also suggested “theatre-specific” Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) avoid any untoward incident. “The railway has a huge network. Trains pass through Naxal-(affected) areas. There may be a fear of terrorist attack. There should be a theatre-specific SOPs to guide police personnel on how to act in a specific situation,” he said.

Singh also asked the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel to be sensitive and friendly with people.

“It is expected from all police personnel. Be it central or state police force, all police force personnel should have friendly behaviour with common people. We have been telling these to them,” the home minister said at the All India Conference on Railway Security here.