The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), established in 1986 under the Ministry of Home Affairs, functions as a depository of information on crime and criminals. This assists investigators in linking offenders to their crimes. Established on the recommendations of the National Police Commission (1977-1981) and the MHA’s Task Force (1985), NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi.
Functions of NCRB
NCRB maintains the National Database of Sexual Offenders (NDSO) and shares this data regularly with States/UTs. The Bureau also manages technical and operational functions of the ‘Online Cyber-Crime Reporting Portal’ for citizens to lodge complaints or upload evidence of crimes like child pornography, rape/gang rape etc. Additionally, it bears the responsibility of implementing the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS), a platform integrating the main IT systems used in delivering Criminal Justice.
NCRB Report 2021: Crime Against Women
In its “Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India Report 2021”, released recently, the NCRB presented alarming figures for “Crime Against Women”, “Suicide” and “Crime Rates”. Nationally, the rate of crime against women surged from 56.5% in 2020 to 64.5% in 2021. Assam led the states with the highest rate of crime against women at 168.3%, followed by Odisha, Haryana, Telangana and Rajasthan. Meanwhile, cities saw Jaipur recording the highest rate at over 194%.
Domestic Violence & Dowry Deaths
The report also recorded a low number of cases under the Domestic Violence Act – only 507 in 2021, amounting to 0.1% of the total cases of crime against women. Kerala dealt with the highest number of these cases (270). The report also catalogued 6,589 dowry death cases in 2021, with UP and Bihar recording the most.
NCRB Report 2021: Suicide Rate
Daily wage earners constituted the largest profession-wise group among suicide victims in 2021, accounting for 25.6% of the cases. Nationally, suicides climbed by 7.17% from 2020 to 2021. Maharashtra topped the states in terms of suicides reported in 2021, contributing to 13.5% of India’s total suicides.
Profession-Wise Suicide Distribution and Reasons
“Self-employed persons” recorded the highest suicide increase at 16.73%. Conversely, the “unemployed persons” group saw a dip in suicides by 12.38% between 2020 and 2021. Family problems (other than marriage-related) were identified as a predominant reason for suicide, at 33.2%, followed by illness at 18.6%.
NCRB Report 2021: Crime Rates
The report observed that violent crimes such as rape, kidnapping, crimes against children, and robberies increased again across India in 2021. Pandemic-related restrictions had led to a decline in these severe offences in 2020. UP registered the highest number of murders, followed by Bihar and Maharashtra.
Crime Against Children and Covid-19 Violations
Crimes against children surpassed pre-pandemic levels after declining in 2020 due to Covid-related restriction. In 2021, 1.49 lakh such cases were recorded. Despite an overall decline in crimes in 2021, violations of COVID-19 norms filed under Section 188 of IPC dropped dramatically from 6.12 lakh cases in 2020 to 3.22 lakh in 2021.
NCRB’s Major Publications
NCRB issues several significant publications, including Crimes in India, Accidental Deaths and Suicides, Prison Statistics, and Reports on Missing Women and children in India. These publications offer critical insights into the country’s crime trends and demographics.