NIDMS next-gen shield against terrorism: Amit Shah

New Delhi, Jan 9: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah said on Friday that NIDMS would become the next-generation security shield against terrorism.

Inaugurating the National IED Data Management System (NIDMS) of the National Security Guard (NSG) in New Delhi through video conferencing, the Union Home Minister said, “NIDMS will become the next-generation security shield against terrorism.”

He said that NIDMS would prove to be extremely important in the coming days for investigating all types of terrorist incidents occurring in the country and for analysing their various aspects.

Addressing the programme, Shah said that the Ministry of Home Affairs had generated various types of data in the past years, but until now, they were in silos, separate from each other.

“Now, we are making efforts to connect all these data sources with one another and to develop an advanced Artificial Intelligence-based software for their analysis,” he said.

The Home Minister said that today’s launch of NIDMS would accelerate this process and prove to be an important milestone in the direction of making the country safe from terrorism.

He said that with the NIDMS being launched, a two-way, comprehensive, integrated, and online data platform would become available to NIA, Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) across the country, state police forces, and all Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).

Shah said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the last six years, significant work had been done to generate various types of data and collect it in a systematic manner.

He said that data related to any explosion or IED incident occurring at any location could be included in this system.

“By utilising this data, necessary guidance can be obtained during investigations in every state,” the Home Minister said.

He said that NIDMS will prove extremely important in investigating terrorist activities, understanding trends in explosions, and formulating effective strategies against them.

Shah said that the database available with NSG contains data related to all bomb explosions from 1999 till now.

He said that through NIDMS, this data would now be made available to Police forces across the country and relevant agencies.

“NIDMS will become a robust platform for accurately analysing the patterns of bomb explosions that have occurred in the country so far, the modus operandi (MO), and the explosives used,” the Home Minister said.

He said that it will provide significant help in establishing inter-linkages between incidents – based on MO and circuit methods – as well as in understanding overall trends and insights.

Shah said that NIDMS was a secure national digital platform through which accurate and organised analysis of bomb explosion-related incidents across the country could be conducted.

He said that this platform would strengthen the process of collecting, standardising, integrating, and securely sharing IED-related data.

The Home Minister said that NIDMS would serve as a single-click access window for data scattered across different case files for investigation agencies and anti-terror organisations.

“This will enable immediate access to the data for central and state investigation agencies, anti-terrorism organisations, and all CAPFs,” he said. Shah said that this platform would benefit the country’s internal security system in three major ways.

He said that through ‘One Nation, One Data Repository’, the data scattered across different departments would now become available to every Police unit as a national asset. \

The Home Minister said that this would bring about a very positive change in both the speed and quality of prosecution.

“We will also be able to easily identify patterns,” he said.

Shah said that understanding patterns would enable scientific evidence-based prosecution.

“Moreover, coordination between agencies will be established in a much better way,” he said.

The Home Minister said that this would be an extremely important effort to deliver the right information to the right place at the right time.

“NSG is a strong pillar of our country’s internal security. Due to the valour, unique skills, and unwavering dedication of NSG personnel, our citizens are able to sleep peacefully,” he said.

Shah said that whether it was responding accurately and swiftly to an attack anywhere, maintaining constant preparedness for anti-hijack operations, conducting bomb disposal operations, or facing any other challenge, in every field, NSG had not only delivered outstanding performance but also achieved successful results every time.

He said that the NSG was a world-class and zero-error force of India. “The NSG was established in 1984, and since then, irrespective of the nature of any incident, it has continuously analysed terrorist incidents across the world and has kept itself fully prepared to deal with every type of situation,” the Home Minister said.

He said that counter-terrorism operations, anti-aircraft hijacking missions, advanced systems for bomb disposal, and now the creation of a platform to share its data with all agencies were all important responsibilities being carried out by the NSG.

Shah said that for their valour, NSG officers and commandos had been honoured many times at various levels.

“These include three Ashok Chakras, two Kirti Chakras, three Shaurya Chakras, 10 Police Medals, and 44 Sena Medals,” he said.

The Home Minister said that over these four decades, the NSG had continued the process of transforming itself in line with the constantly changing security landscape.

He said NSG’s regional hubs operate from different parts of the country – Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad.

“In addition, a new hub is also being set up in Ayodhya. This will significantly reduce the time taken by the NSG to reach any location,” Shah said.

He said that after the Ayodhya hub becomes active, the NSG would be able to reach any corner of the country within one to one-and-a-half hours in an emergency.

The Home Minister said that there were Special Action Groups in Delhi, which had been established as counter-terrorism and anti-hijacking groups.

“In a way, the NSG remains on its toes 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and the country has certainly benefited from this,” he said.

Shah said that nearly 100 percent of the country’s police stations – around 17,741 – were connected to CCTNS, making their online data available.

“ICJS-2 is emerging as a next-generation data-sharing system based on the concept of ‘One Data – One Entry,’” he said.

The Home Minister said that, in addition to data from about 22,000 courts, records of approximately 2.20 crore prisoners through e-Prisons, data of 2 crore prosecutions through e-Prosecution, results of 31 lakh  samples through e-Forensics, and records of 1.21 crore fingerprints through NAFIS were now available at the click of a button.

He said that NIDMS would also be added to this system.

Shah said that with the help of AI, NIDMS would connect with other data sources to create a strong security grid in the country.

Union Home Secretary, Director Intelligence Bureau (IB), Director General NSG, Director Generals of Central Armed Police Forces, and Director Generals of Police of various states also attended the event.