National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2021 releases

The latest National Crime Records Bureau report sheds some key insights into the crime statistics in India.

Key Highlights

The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report covers crimes against women, kidnappings, suicides, and traffic accidents in India.

• Crimes against women have increased by 15.3 per cent in 2021 as compared to the earlier report.
  • With 56,083 cases, Uttar Pradesh topped the list of crimes against women, followed by Rajasthan (40,738) and Maharashtra (39,526).
  • Nagaland reported the lowest number of crimes against women with a 5.5 per cent rate in 2021. The northeastern state also had the lowest number of actual cases (54) last year.
  • Delhi accounted for the highest rate of crimes against women in 2021 among the Union territories.
• Suicide rates also increased as compared to the last report;
  • Maharashtra (22,207) tops the list,
  • Tamil Nadu (18,925),
  • Madhya Pradesh (14,965)
  • West Bengal (13,500)
    • The causes of suicides in India were associated with career, loneliness, abuse, violence, familial disputes, mental illness, alcoholism, financial loss, and chronic pain.
      
      
• Trafficking: Eight children were trafficked every day in the country in 2021 and were exploited.

NCRB Report: Other concerns showcased

• Uttar Pradesh saw the highest number of deaths (24,711) in traffic accidents.
• Jammu and Kashmir registered the most Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) cases under the ‘special and local laws’ in 2021.
• And Jharkhand and Maharashtra filed the highest cases of communal riots last year with 100 and 77 cases respectively.
• On the other hand, most caste conflict violence was reported in Bihar with 201 cases last year.

What are the areas of concern?

• For Government: The government is concerned about the country’s situation of increasing crime against women, accidents, communal conflicts, and Suicides.
• NCRB data shows the government's lack of policy implementation and the regional divide across the country.
• For Society: On the societal level, the increasing crime rates indicate a lack of values and social order among Humans.
• In order to make a stance on such issues, community participation is not up to the mark.
• Gender disparity, poverty alleviation, and food insecurity are highlighted and are one of the causes of these crimes.

What can be the possible steps to be taken for reducing crimes in India?

• Surveillance: Police surveillance is one of the activities that are used for crime prevention and is also considered effective.
• Offender Tracking: Offender tracking system contains information about the prisoners or previously prosecuted criminals and that information makes it easy for police to catch the actual perpetrator.

• Crime Analysis: Crime analysis means the analysis of crime data recorded by the police. Crime analysis can be helpful in crime prevention as it would disclose the ‘pattern’ by which a crime is occurring.
• Socio-economic development and inclusion: The integration of crime prevention considerations into social and economic policies should be done including education, health, employment, etc. policies and to majorly focus on communities, families, and youth.

Conclusion

Crime prevention is of the utmost importance to law enforcement agencies as it provides for a sense of safety and protection among the citizens. Preventing a crime not only helps in avoiding the time and costs involved in accessing justice but also saves the victim from procedural suffering. Crime prevention is not only limited to the police but it is also the responsibility of everyone.