Tihar jail to get AI-powered surveillance system

• Tihar jail is installing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered CCTV cameras to monitor inmates and fight crime.
• It will also have a real-time grievance redressal system and optical fibre network.

Issue of overcrowding

• Tihar jail – the largest prison complex of South Asia – is home to some of the most high-profile criminals.
• Delhi has three prison complexes – Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli – and all of them are packed beyond capacity.
• The maximum-security Tihar jail, which has a capacity to house 5,200 inmates, has 12,762 prisoners at present across its nine central prisons.
• The overcrowding has made monitoring inmates difficult.

The Project

• In the pilot project, 20 AI-powered cameras with built-in facial recognition will be installed.
• As many as 1,248 additional CCTV cameras will also be put in place.

Current Status

• At present, Tihar has 7,500 IP CCTV cameras (a type of digital video camera that receives control data and sends image data via an internet protocol network).
• It’s difficult to monitor all cameras. That also requires more human deployment.
• AI cameras would help us detect suspicious movement.

How it works

• AI CCTV cameras cover repetitive hand movements such as while assaulting another person, or hand movements suggestive of a phone call, and automatically trigger an alert to the officers.
• The cameras will also capture instances of inmates leaving the designated perimeter.

Other proposals

• In terms of the canteen management system, authorities are planning to replace the manual billing system with an automatic one.
• The process to streamline and upgrade the prison management system is also on the cards.

Prelims Take Away

• Location Based Question
• Tihar jails
• CCTV
• AI CCTV