Website for FIRs and related services soon

Complainants across the country will soon be able to register their FIRs for seven offences and other related services online as the Home Ministry plans to start a citizen- centric portal for all States and Union Territories in the coming days.

Officials said the portal will provide various services to help citizens get details and run a background verification check if they are planning to hire any employee in form of drivers or domestic or if they plan to have tenants. `` In addition some more services will also be provided on this platform. The technical work on the portal is almost over and it will be launched very soon. With this the citizens will not have to visit a police station for some services as the same can be done with the help of this portal,’’ a Home Ministry official said.

The initiative is part of the SMART policing scheme launched by the Home Ministry following a directive from Prime Minster Narendra Modi. The move is aimed at providing more and better online services to citizens and also assist investigating agencies.

In addition, to registering FIR some other services that would be available online include address verification of employees, tenants and nurses, permission for hosting public events, lost and found articles and vehicle theft. The scheme would be launched simultaneously across 34 States and UTs. With this move, officials said, criminal investigation would become more citizen friendly.