A unified criminal database and a security alert system, a web application, have been prepared by the police to keep tabs on criminals and prevent their entry into the offices of the Chief Minister and Ministers, Home and Vigilance Minister Ramesh Chennithala has said.
Replying to questions in the Assembly on Wednesday, Mr. Chennithala said the names of 1.40 lakh people collected through the Crime and Criminal Information System had been added by the State Crime Records Bureau to the database.
The verification would begin as the list is completed, he said.
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He said the database would prevent criminals from bypassing police verification, and taking passport from other districts. It would help the police to nab them easily in case they committed crime in other districts.
The police had asked the General Administration Department to take steps to store the grabs of the closed-circuit televisions installed at the Secretariat for one year instead of the present two weeks, he said.
The Chief Minister, intervening, said it was not true that the Ministers were skipping the Secretariat, and were in the office only for two days a week. The legislators were given due priority in meeting the Ministers.
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Denying that there was any Cabinet meeting in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the capital during his last visit, Mr. Chandy said only discussions on the pressing needs of the State were held. The Chief Minster said the Opposition failed to come for the all-party meet. The government wanted to create a consensus and take the Opposition into confidence. “We are ready for discussion. Join us for the all-party meet convened on January 27 in the capital,” he said.
Minister for Transport and Forest Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said a revival package was being worked out by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). The corporation was in deep crisis despite giving Rs.858.7 crore after the United Democratic Front came to power, and Rs.600.10 crore during the five years of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
He said the funding agencies were not providing any money to buy buses. The staff and the political parties would be taken into confidence. Social commitment had cost the KSRTC Rs.462 crore.
Minister for Excise and Ports K. Babu said the modernisation of the Excise Department had begun.