Project Selo boosts CRPF’s armoury

The next time a CRPF battalion moves from one assignment to another, it will be governed by the power of information technology. That’s what Project Selo is all about, says Rahul Neel Mani

Voice-based communication networks have long been used by the armed forces and para-military forces to help them achieve their objectives by getting information in real-time, but there have always been manual processes involved. Except for a few desktop machines here and there, little computing power has been added to the defence forces. A typical paper file is preserved for years when it comes to keeping defence and police records. But now things have started moving in the right direction—towards the goal of a fully digitised environment where paper is giving way to desktops and untidy record rooms are being replaced with smart server farms and data centres.

Data communication in the CRPF will receive a big boost when Project Selo is completely implemented, says J S Sawhney

One such ambitious computerisation drive and intranet project is being rolled out at one of India’s premier para-military organisations, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). To make information technology an integral part of their work culture, the CRPF prepared a five-year plan for total computerisation of the force way back in 1997. The plan, which envisaged computerisation at all levels, from the Directorate General (DG Office) down to CRPF battalions in the field, was to cover all functionalities like personnel, operations, training, finance, inventory and mail messaging. As an initial step, the Government of India awarded a contract of Rs 1.39 crore for the development of Integrated Application Software (IAS) to meet the needs of the CRPF. This project was started in May 2000 and was completed in December 2001.

Says Brig (Retd) J S Sawhney, DIG, communications and computers, CRPF, “It is hard to function today without information technology. It has become an integral part of work.” The CRPF performs duties as diverse as maintaining law and order, providing security during elections, taking part in counter-insurgency operations, and providing assistance during natural calamities. However, since it only has a limited number of troops, the CRPF has to move its personnel from place to place. This happens with tremendous regularity, so they need an immense amount of technological support. “As far as the CRPF is concerned, we think IT provides the best tools for managing the functions of the force. The government is now committed to modernising all the important constituents of central police organisations, be it weaponry, transport or communications and data,” says Sawhney.

So far, voice communication has been the primary tool for management of command and control in the CRPF. The force basically uses wireless communication both for tactical field areas and for messages from the HQ to other offices. “We had taken a large number of leased lines from DoT for communication purposes, including the in-house messaging system. But now, looking at the networking needs of Project Selo [Selo stands for Service (Se) and Loyalty (Lo), which is the motto of the CRPF], we are replacing the old leased lines—which had low capacity—with the new 64 Kbps leased lines in a big way,” discloses Sawhney.

The force is also committed to setting up its own e-mail system. It will become the mainstay for messaging, resulting in the closing down of the existing messaging system, which is based on store-and-forward automatic messaging technology where you connect various teleprinters to get messages. “With regards to data communication, CRPF is at the incubation stage of this big leap forward. As of now there is little in data communication, but after the completion of Project Selo there will be lots to say about it,” declares Sawhney.

The government has sanctioned hardware and networks for the project to cover all offices at the Directorate General, Sector Headquarters (IsG Offices), Range Headquarters (DIsG Offices) and Group Centres in Phase One at a total cost of Rs 39.07 crore.

The Ministry of Home Affairs’ Procurement Wing, after completing due formalities, has finalised the procurement of hardware, networking and software components required for implementation of Project Selo. Towards this end, a contract was signed between the government and NIIT in July this year.

Project Selo, as explained by the team at the helm of affairs, is an enterprise-wide computerisation project for the CRPF. This means that the force will have all the essential functions—operations, intelligence, training, inventory, budget and finance—computerised; so far these are being performed manually. “Applications for these functions have been developed, and it is planned that all these departments will be interconnected. Theoretically, CRPF will be moving to a paperless environment. Development of the application software by NIIT took nearly 400 man-months,” informs Sawhney. The applications are designed keeping in mind the specific needs of the CRPF. The different software solutions are also integrated. “All the five modules can interact with each other. This is nothing but leveraging IT for the betterment of the forces,” he says.

The project is to be done in two phases. Phase One, launched in November 2003, will be commissioned by July 2004. The next phase of the project, which will cover the computerisation of battalions, will be commissioned immediately after completion of the first phase.

“During the information planning stage, the CRPF tried to avoid the route of first procuring the hardware and then developing applications. “We went the other way. We first developed the required apps and then went on to procure the hardware, networking gear and third-party software,” says Sawhney.

NIIT will do the procurement on behalf of the CRPF. HP will supply the desktops and servers, and Computer Associates will be providing the network management and security tools.

After installing the hardware, software and networking equipment, the IAS specifically developed for the CRPF will be implemented across 82 offices and 51 other locations.

If implemented well, the project will revolutionise the working environment of the force. It will enhance its effectiveness by allowing officers at various levels to access relevant and processed information at any time and any place with just a few clicks, thus enhancing the quality of work and reducing the time taken for decision-making. It will also release a substantial amount of manpower from routine office work; some of this manpower can be used in the field where a combatant is still not replaceable by machines.

As part of this project, the CRPF has been training a large number of its men in the use of computers by creating an ad

hoc Faculty of Information Technology at their Central Training College (Tele-Comm) at Ranchi. Further training, including specialised training in database administration and networking management, has also been planned as part of the project.

To ensure speedy and effective implementation of their IT plans, S C Chaube, director general, CRPF, has declared 2003 as the year of e-governance in the force.

rahul@expresscomputeronline.com