The Ministry of Home Affairs is planning to directly transmit feeds from Facial Recognition Cameras (FRCs) at six major airports across the country to a ‘Data Fusion Center’, according to sources.
Kolkata is among the six key airports included in this list, the sources said.
Speaking at the foundation stone-laying ceremony for a new CISF building at the force’s headquarters in Delhi’s CGO Complex, CISF Director General (DG) Prabir Ranjan announced that FRC feeds from all major airports in the country would be linked to a centralized ‘Data Fusion Center’. This center is set to be established in Delhi.
He stated on Monday that the live feeds from approximately 150,000 FRCs—installed not only at airports but also at other critical installations across the country—would be connected to this Data Fusion Center, enabling officials to conduct surveillance from a centralized location.
In addition to Kolkata, the Ministry of Home Affairs’ list includes the airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai.
A proposal has been made to upgrade the FRCs at these six major airports and integrate them with the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID). This integration will facilitate real-time surveillance and transform the process of identifying suspects.
The CISF stated that this initiative would greatly assist the country’s law enforcement agencies.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has encouraged states to utilize various datasets through this platform. These include information related to driving licenses, vehicle registrations, Aadhaar, air travel, bank records, and the travel details of both foreign and Indian nationals.
It also encompasses systems for collecting and analyzing data from Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) reports on suspicious transactions, mobile phone records, and social media posts.
A ‘Data Fusion Center’ is a system where information is gathered from various disparate sources and consolidated into an integrated database to facilitate analysis and decision-making.
By analyzing this combined data, the system can determine whether an individual has been previously identified, has exhibited suspicious movements, or has links to past incidents. This enables investigators to assess the situation and take appropriate action more effectively.