Police verification for passport to go online within a year

Delays in issue of passports due to lack of timely police verification are set to go with the government planning to replace physical verification of the applicant's antecedents with online verification using a link to the newly-created national database on crimes of criminals. The national database was rolled out as part of the home ministry's Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS) initiative.

The much-delayed CCTNS project, first approved in 2009, finally got off the ground with Union home minister Rajnath Singh launching the Digital Police portal that e-integrates the country's 15,398 police stations and allows citizens to report crime and request antecedents verification online. The TOI was the first to report the impending rollout of CCTNS on Saturday.