The Indian government is set to introduce facial recognition technology powered by artificial intelligence at Mumbai’s CSMT and six other stations to track individuals from the National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO). This is part of the Centre’s Safe City project.
This technology will be linked to CCTV cameras already installed at railway stations. It will scan faces in real time and match them with over 20 lakh records stored in the NDSO. The system is designed to flag individuals with criminal backgrounds related to sexual offences, allowing authorities to respond quickly.
Six other stations will be New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Howrah, Ahmedabad, and Pune. The Ministry of Home Affairs has approved an initial rollout of this system. Officials have said that the AI system will follow proper guidelines and respect privacy laws. If the technology performs well, the plan is to expand its use to more stations and public places.
The Safe City initiative also includes other safety features. These include automatic number plate recognition, smart street lighting, emergency call boxes, and drone surveillance.
This proposal follows a petition filed by the Women Lawyers’ Association in the Supreme Court. The petition called for stronger protection for women. It pointed at increasing crimes against women and less than two percent of the conviction rate for such crimes.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has also stated that the Integrated Emergency Response Management System (IERMS) is now active in 499 out of 983 major railway stations. This system makes sure of 24/7 safety for female passengers. In the Konkan Railway Network, 740 CCTV cameras have been installed at 67 stations.