DNA Analysis Centre inaugurated at CFSL, Chandigarh

Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, inaugurated a State-of-the-Art DNA Analysis Centre at Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh. All States and Union Territories (UTs) will be utilizing this facility and will in future set up similar facilities in their respective States for quick disposal of forensic cases referred to them.

About DNA Analysis Centre

This new Advanced Forensic DNA Analysis Lab has been established under Nirbhaya Fund scheme. It has been set up with an allocation of Rs.99.76 crores and has a capacity of examining 2000 cases per year.

Directorate of Forensic Science services (DFSS) under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has ensured that this Centre is fully equipped with modern DNA Profiling tools and equipment.

The Centre will provide State-of-the-art facility for-

• Sexual Assault and Homicide Unit
• Paternity Unit
• Human Identification Unit and
• Mitochondrial DNA Unit.

A specialised training in collection of forensic evidence is also being undertaken by Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) and more than 6000 personnel have been trained.

Need: DNA Analysis has become critical in ensuring efficiency and timeliness in completion of criminal investigation and better convictions. Forensic DNA Profiling is a very sensitive and reproducible technique, which has become one of the most valuable tools in modern criminal investigation. Irious applications include- paternity and maternity disputes, human identification in mass disasters, identification of victim and suspect in rape and murder cases, identification of deceased, immigration, child swapping in hospitals and organ transplantation.

About Central Forensic Science Laboratories (CFSLs)

CFSLs are a premier institution in the field of forensic science services in the country. The Directorate of Forensic Science Services (DFSS) has set up Central Forensic Science Laboratories (CFSLs) all across country. These are situated at- Pune (Maharashtra) Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Chandigarh, Guwahati (Assam), Kolkata (West Bengal) and Hyderabad (Telangana).

CFSL role is to assist States/UTs in undertaking forensic examination of evidence. However, CFSLs predominant role is to undertake Research & Development (R&D) activities with a view to develop new forensic techniques, adopt latest developments in basic sciences for forensic analysis and disseminate this information to other Forensic Science Laboratories.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2019