Lok Sabha Question No. 1044 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-08
Subject: FSL Laboratories
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Harsimrat Kaur Badal

## GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRY OFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1044 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.12.2023

## FSLLABORATORIES

## 1044. SHRIMATI HARSIMRAT KAUR BADAL

Will the MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that the absence of Forensic Science Laboratories (FSL) is causing delays in POCSO cases in the country and if so, the details of action taken in this regard; (b) whether the FSL Madhuban has been asked to follow Supreme Court directions in ensuring that DNA PCR kits are purchased immediately for testing the critical evidence in the cases registered under POCSO;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the number of FSLs in the country, State/ UT-wise and location-wise; and
- (e) the number of DNA PCR testing kits available in stock with FSLs in the country, State/UTwise?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

Based on the inputs received from Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Women and Child Development, the reply in respect of (a) to (e) is as under :

- (a) Registration of cases against offences and its investigation is a regular process. Forensic examination for all cases including those booked under the POCSO Act are undertaken in all 7 Central Forensic Science Laboratories and 32 State Forensic Science Laboratories.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has taken several steps for strengthening forensic capacities in the country, which includes, inter-alia:

- (i) Setting-up a State-of-the-art DNA Analysis and Research & Development facility at the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory at Chandigarh.
- (ii) Setting-up a National Cyber Forensic Science Laboratory at the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory, Hyderabad to investigate important cases of digital fraud / cyber forensics.
- (iii) Assistance to States/ Union Territories for strengthening the DNA analysis, Cyberforensics and related facilities in their forensic laboratories. Projects have been approved for 30 States/ Union Territories at a total cost of about ₹ 250 Crore.
- (iv) A Scheme for Modernization of Forensic Capacities has been approved. This will provide assistance to States / Union Territories to develop high quality forensic science facilities for modernization of machinery and equipment, and facilitating availability of trained manpower in these laboratories through expansion of educational facilities for forensic science in the country.
- (b) & (c) 'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects as per the seventh schedule to the Constitution of India. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Madhuban comes under the control of the Government of Haryana.
- (d) The number of Central Forensic Science Laboratories (CFSLs) in the country is as below.

|   S. No. | State / UT     | Location   |   No. of CFSLs |
|----------|----------------|------------|----------------|
|        1 | Chandigarh     | Chandigarh |             01 |
|        2 | Telangana      | Hyderabad  |             01 |
|        3 | West Bengal    | Kolkata    |             01 |
|        4 | Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal     |             01 |
|        5 | Assam          | Kamrup     |             01 |
|        6 | Maharashtra    | Pune       |             01 |
|        7 | New Delhi      | New Delhi  |             01 |

The State/ UT-wise State Forensic Science Laboratories (SFSLs) is placed at Annexure-I.

- (e) The availability of the number of DNA PCR testing kits depends on the cases received and their use. The kits have a shelf life and cannot be stocked in bulk. However, the DNA kits have been made available on GeM portal for ease of procurement.

## Annexure - I

## Number of State Forensic Science Laboratories (SFSLs) in the country, State/UT-wise and location-wise is as under:

|   S. No. | State / UT        | Location                            |   No. of SFSLs |
|----------|-------------------|-------------------------------------|----------------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh    | Manglagiri                          |             01 |
|        2 | Arunachal Pradesh | Banderdewa                          |             01 |
|        3 | Assam             | Guwahati                            |             01 |
|        4 | Bihar             | Patna                               |             01 |
|        5 | Chhattisgarh      | Raipur                              |             01 |
|        6 | Goa               | Verna                               |             01 |
|        7 | Gujarat           | Gandhinagar                         |             01 |
|        8 | Haryana           | Madhuban, Karnal                    |             01 |
|        9 | Himachal Pradesh  | Junga                               |             01 |
|       10 | Jharkhand         | Ranchi                              |             01 |
|       11 | Karnataka         | Bengaluru                           |             01 |
|       12 | Kerala            | Thiruvananthapuram                  |             01 |
|       13 | Madhya Pradesh    | Sagar                               |             01 |
|       14 | Maharashtra       | Mumbai                              |             01 |
|       15 | Manipur           | Pangei                              |             01 |
|       16 | Meghalaya         | Shillong                            |             01 |
|       17 | Mizoram           | Aizawl                              |             01 |
|       18 | Nagaland          | Dimapur                             |             01 |
|       19 | Odisha            | Bhubaneshwar                        |             01 |
|       20 | Punjab            | Mohali                              |             01 |
|       21 | Rajasthan         | Jaipur                              |             01 |
|       22 | Sikkim            | Gangtok                             |             01 |
|       23 | Tamil Nadu        | Chennai                             |             01 |
|       24 | Telangana         | Hyderabad                           |             01 |
|       25 | Tripura           | Agartala                            |             01 |
|       26 | Uttar Pradesh     | Lucknow                             |             01 |
|       27 | Uttarakhand       | Dehradun                            |             01 |
|       28 | West Bengal       | Belgachia, Kolkata                  |             01 |
|       29 | A&N Islands       | Port Blair                          |             01 |
|       30 | Delhi             | Rohini                              |             01 |
|       31 | J&K               | Jammu &Srinagar                     |             01 |
|       32 | Puducherry        | Kirumampakkam Police Station Campus |             01 |

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