India Expands Forensic Network: 14 New NFSU Campuses Approved Nationwide

Apart from its initial campuses in Gandhinagar, Gujarat and Delhi, Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in a written reply in the the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, informed new NFSU campuses have been approved in Goa, Agartala (Tripura), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Dharwad (Karnataka), Guwahati (Assam), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Khordha (Odisha), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Chengalpattu (Tamil Nadu), Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.

The MoS further stated that land has already been allocated for campuses in several locations, including Goa, Agartala, Bhopal, Dharwad, Guwahati, Nagpur, Khordha, Raipur, and Chengalpattu. Campuses in these regions, along with Jaipur in Rajasthan, are currently operating from transit facilities while permanent infrastructure is being developed.

Highlighting efforts to strengthen forensic capabilities, the MoS noted that collaborations with national and international forensic research institutions are being actively pursued by the Directorate of Forensic Science Services and NFSU within their respective mandates.

"These collaborations are part of an ongoing process to enhance research and capacity building in forensic sciences."

The reply also mentioned, "the government has undertaken steps to strengthen the forensic ecosystem in the country in order to support scientific investigation and improve the quality and timeliness of the justice processes."

In order to promote closer coordination between academic training, research and operational forensic science services to build capacity, enhance availability of skilled manpower and facilitate the adoption of modern forensic techniques, the Central government has inter-alia approved setting up of campuses of the NFSU in co-location withCentral Forensic Science Laboratories (CFSLs) in six states namely Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.

The NFSU has been providing state-of-the-art forensic technologies such as advanced DNA analysis, cyber forensics, digital forensics, forensic psychology, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, and ballistic forensics. The NFSU offers more than 60 academic programmes in the field of forensic science and allied disciplines through its campuses. These include undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma and doctoral programmes such as B.Sc., M.Sc., B.Tech., M.Tech., MBA and PhD in various specialised areas of forensic science, cyber security, digital forensics, behavioural science, forensic psychology, and related domains. Crime scene management forms an integral part of the forensic science curriculum in these academic programmes. In addition, the University also conducts Short-term training programmes on Crime Scene Management for the capacity building of stakeholders.

Apart from the NFSU, modern crime scene management practices, including scientific evidence collection, preservation, and digital documentation, are also supported by the CFSLs.

The MoS also mentioned that the CFSLs and the NFSU benefit multiple stakeholders involved in the justice system, inter-alia including State and Central law-enforcement agencies, Central government department, state government department, judicial officers, intelligence personnel, courts, banks, corporate sector, and public sector undertakings.

In addition to the already established seven CFSLs in the country located in Chandigarh, Delhi, Kamrup (Assam), Kolkata (West Bengal), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Pune (Maharashtra), and Hyderabad (Telangana), the MoS stated "approval has been provided for setting up of eight new CFSLs in the country in Jammu (UT of Jammu and Kashmir), Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Kerala.

Out of these, the MoS added, land has been allocated in Jammu and Kashmir, Chengalpattu (Tamil Nadu), Khordha (Odisha), and Raipur (Chhattisgarh).

- ANI