BHOPAL: Crime data may not make headlines this election. For the first time since 1953, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) is likely to skip releasing its figures this year and push it to early next year.The official reason is that NCRB has changed the format for compilation of data, and tabulating data from the state will take time. Congress, however, refuses to accept the procedural-delay theory and says it is a “conspiracy by the ruling party to mask lawlessness”. MP has for years been the rape capital of the country and records a staggering number of farm suicides, too — both of which could prove to be pressure points for the three-term BJP government.Congress state media committee vice-president Bhupendra Gupta said: “Delaying the NCRB report shows the intention of BJP governments at the state and Centre. They want to hide facts from the country. NCRB report is an annual exercise. There was no need to change its format and delay it at the last minute before elections.”BJP rejects the allegation, with party state spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal saying: “It is not a question of whether NCRB figures come out before the elections. The real issue is whether the government and its agencies have made efforts to control crime. There is no organised crime in MP now. If Congress wants to talk about crime rate, it should first go through the crime rate when it was in power in MP.”The NCRB report hasn’t missed a year since 1953. It is generally released in the final quarter of the year — the last report of ‘Crime in India 2016’ was released in November 2017. Figures for 2017 were expected around the same month this year, but sources say it could be pushed to 2019.Officials in MP said they received the new format around a week ago. “Information collection will now begin in the districts to be sent to NCRB. The process will take time and may not be completed in the three months left in 2018,” said an official.NCRB assistant director (statistics) Kamini Shaw confirmed that the format has been changed this year and a number of new details have been added. “States are expected to send the data in the fresh format within a month. It will take time to compile the figures and the report is expected by year-end or next year,” she said.The additions this year include incidents with RTI activists, and more details on crimes against women and children. Additional director general of MP state crime records bureau, Adarsh Katiyar , said the new format has been received from NCRB and the crime figures will be sent soon.Bureau officials pointed that they will not release the state’s report unless NCRB releases its annual report to “avoid contradictions”. This means MP residents will probably get to know crime figures of the state only after assembly elections, an official agreed.

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