In news- Indian security agencies in the past two years have checked the antecedents of more than 9,000 Indians who wanted to enrol for the paid Global Entry Program.
About the scheme-
- The Global Entry is a facility run by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency that works under the Department of Homeland Security.
- The department fast tracks movement of pre-approved, low-risk travellers upon arrival after a rigorous background check through designated kiosks.
- At airports, program members proceed to Global Entry kiosks, present their machine-readable passport or U.S. permanent resident card, undergo fingerprint verification and complete a customs declaration.
- The kiosk issues the traveler a transaction receipt and directs the traveler to baggage claim and the exit.
- Though the pilot project started in 2008, India became a member of Global Entry in 2017.
- All applicants undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview before enrollment.
- After receiving a request, the U.S. authorities send them to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
- The MEA forwards it to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which taps other ministries, State police and other databases to run a background check.
- The CBP does not process the application if a person has been “convicted of any criminal offence or have pending criminal charges, have been found in violation of any customs, immigration or agriculture regulations or laws in any country.”
- The other countries that are part of this programme are Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
- The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) is being used in India for antecedent verification for Global Entry.
- This is not a public service open to all the Indian citizens.
CCTNS-
- CCTNS, is a project under Indian government for creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through e-governance.
- The project is implemented by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
- The concept of CCTNS was first conceived in 2008 by the then Home Minister (P.Chidambaram), in the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai attacks.
- This was then approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in 2009.
- A pilot phase of the project was launched on 4 January 2013 by the then Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.
- It aims to integrate all the data and records of crime into a Core Application Software (CAS), which is presently spreading across 28 states and 9 union territories of India.
- CAS was developed by the Bangalore based IT firm, Wipro.
- The Project will interconnect about 15000 Police Stations and additional 5000 offices of supervisory police officers across the country.
- It will digitize data related to FIR registration, investigation and charge sheets in all police stations.
- It would help in developing a national database of crime and criminals.
- The total outlay for the project is 2000 crore rupees, and also includes Operation and Maintenance phase for additional five years up to March 2022.
Source: The Hindu
