Centre notifies establishment of campuses of National Forensic Sciences University in Goa, Tripura

The Women Safety Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday issued a notification mentioning the move of the Central government as part of plans to set up 10 NFSU campuses in different states and five abroad over the next five years.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (4) of section 4 of the National Forensic Sciences University Act, 2020 (32 of 2020), the Central Government hereby notifies that the campuses established at Goa and Tripura shall include as the campuses of the National Forensic Sciences University," the notification reads.

Gandhinagar-based National Forensic Science University (NFSU) was formed by an Act of Parliament in 2020. Establishing 10 NFSU campuses in different states is a move to incorporate forensic sciences into the police and judicial systems of states as per the requirements of their respective law and order situations. The move is part of the plan of the MHA under which the university functions.

As per official sources, the university vis-a-vis MHA was in talks with Tripura and Goa governments to open its campuses. Similar talks were also on with Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Odisha, Assam, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to open its campuses.

The NFSU Gandhinagar has an ambitious plan of opening over 20 Training Centres, 10 campuses in India, five campuses abroad and 50-100 affiliated colleges in the next four-five years. In August last year, the NFSU took its first step in this direction when it set up a DNA testing centre in Lucknow's Institute of Forensic Sciences.

In the initial phase, teams of faculty, scholars and students of NFSU Gandhinagar will be visiting the proposed campuses in different states in order to understand their crime investigation needs.

The NFSU, which is aligned with the Gujarat state Directorate of Forensic Sciences Laboratory, is India's premier laboratory for forensic sciences and technical investigation. (ANI)