The Bihar government today assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that it will expedite the implementation of Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) and will implement the facility of online registration of FIRs at all police stations in the state by July-end.

"We are going to implement online FIR registration facility in the state by July-end this year. I have assured the Prime Minister. The National Informatics Centre has already developed a website for this. We will be providing computers, data entry operators, Internet connection at every police station," Bihar chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh told The Telegraph.

The assurance came at a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister in which he interacted with chief secretaries, director-generals of police and other senior officials of all states through information and communication technology-based platform for Proactive Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI).

Bihar is running much behind schedule in implementing the CCTNS compared to other states, which has also led to cost overrun of around Rs 102 crore, which the state will now have to spend from its own kitty.

The initial estimated cost for the implementation of the project was Rs 64 crore.

"The delay occurred because of hiring inefficient contractors in the beginning. Their contracts were cancelled at a later stage. However, all efforts are being made to expedite CCTNS implementation," a police officer said.

When asked about the delay, the chief secretary said there could be no deadline for the implementation of such a path-breaking and extensive system, which will keep improving slowly with experience.

Modi had comprehensively reviewed the CCTNS, among other things, and urged the states to give it high priority in the interest of law and order and bringing criminals to justice.

He took stock of the progress in setting-up the required infrastructure for CCTNS.