The data in the NCRB crime report doesn’t potray a correct picture about the crime scenarios. Discuss

The National Crime Record Bureau has released the 2017 crime data from India. But it is said that it doesn’t portray a clear picture of the crime scenarios across the country.

Why it doesn’t portray a correct picture?

• It is said that the report doesn’t portray a correct picture about crime scenarios due to the fact that there is the possibility of some States reporting such crimes better.
• For example, in rape cases, the Union Territory of Delhi has registered a rate of 12.5 per one lakh population.
• Delhi was surpassed only by Madhya Pradesh (14.7) and Chhattisgarh (14.6).
• The fact which needs to be highlighted here is that the filing of rape complaints in Delhi have significantly increased following public outcry over the December 2012 rape incident and this could partially explain the high rate of such cases.
• The fact that Delhi recorded 40.4% of the total IPC crimes registered among metropolitan cities in 2017 can be linked to the fact that the use of easier (online) means to register them.
• The report in the use of the census base year it uses 2001 to calculate crime rates for States and 2011 for metropolitan cities. This makes assessments unwieldy.

Utility of the NCRB Report

The report must not be belittled because, despite the issues, the report offers a useful snapshot of crime in the country. The data gathered will come handy for the policymakers to identify the areas which are in dire need of reforms.