Drastic fall in violent crimes under Modi govt since 2014, reveals NCRB

NEW DELHI: There has been a major reversal of violent crime patterns in India over the last decade, with National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) records indicating a sharp drop in murders, rapes, dowry deaths, and riots since 2014. This is in sharp contrast to the previous UPA years (2004–2014), during which these crimes had increased sharply.

Reported rape cases nearly doubled under the UPA, from 18,233 in 2004 to 36,735 in 2014. Since then, however, they have fallen to 29,670 in 2023 — a 19 per cent drop from 2014 levels. Dowry deaths followed a similar trajectory, rising 20 per cent to 8,455 in 2014, but declining steadily thereafter to 6,156 in 2023, down 27 per cent.

The number of riots also had a similar trend. During the UPA years, instances increased from 59,971 in 2004 to 66,042 in 2014, an overall rise of 10 per cent. From 2014 onwards, the scenario changed sharply. In 2023, riot cases had fallen to 39,260, a drastic fall of 40 per cent.

Murders also stayed defiantly high under the UPA, averaging about 33,200 per year, with 33,608 reported in 2004 and 33,981 in 2014. By 2023, murder cases had fallen to 27,721, an 18 per cent reduction from the UPA-average level.

In total, violent crimes in these four categories went up by 22 per cent during the UPA government to 1.45 lakh in 2014. During the Modi government, the figure came down by 29 per cent to 1.02 lakh cases in 2023, even below the 1.18 lakh figure of 2004.

Officials credit this turnabout to firm action taken to upgrade police forces. The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS), which had “gone into a freeze with UPA in power”, has been rejuvenated and currently interconnects 17,712 police stations with more than 35.24 crore crime records available across the country. The government has also disbursed Rs 4,846 crore since 2021 under the scheme of Assistance to States & UTs for Modernisation of Police, guaranteeing cutting-edge technology, upgraded hardware, mobility assistance, and better infrastructure.

Moreover, the new criminal codes have incorporated stricter provisions, time-limited probes, and an exhaustive framework covering crimes against women and children, with 37 sections devoted to such offences.