National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS)

August 14, 2023

Union Home Minister congratulated the team of National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) for winning the Gold Award under the Excellence in Government Process Reengineering for Digital Transformation Category-1 of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).

ABOUT NAFIS

The NAFIS project is a country-wide searchable database of crime- and criminal-related fingerprints.
It was conceptualized and managed by the NCRB at the Central Fingerprint Bureau (CFPB), New Delhi.

Madhya Pradesh became the first state in the nation to use NAFIS to identify a deceased individual.

The first ever Finger Print Bureau in the world was established at Writer’s Building at Calcutta (now Kolkata) in the year 1897.

The web-based application functions as a central information repository by consolidating fingerprint data from all states and Union Territories.
It assigns a unique 10-digit National Fingerprint Number (NFN) to each person arrested for a crime.
This unique ID will be used for the person’s lifetime, and different crimes registered under different FIRs will be linked to the same NFN.
It enables law enforcement agencies to upload, trace and retrieve information from the database 24×7 in real-time.
The NAFIS maintains-
- Ten Print data: Images of a person’s palm and fingerprints, as well as the accompanying basic biographical data, are gathered from them by the police and immigration officials.
- Latent data: Impressions of fingers and palms found at crime scenes that have not yet been solved, which police can check.