Nagaland Police will launch a single-window online grievance portal within the next 10-12 days, allowing residents to lodge complaints online, track their status and access police inquiry reports, Director General of Police Rupin Sharma said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a state-level convergence meeting on violence against women and children, Sharma said the proposed system would enable people to submit complaints to the police irrespective of whether the matter was ultimately found to be civil or criminal in nature.
Under the system, complaints received will be assigned by the officer-in-charge of the concerned police station to an investigating officer for preliminary inquiry.
The officer will then determine whether the complaint involves a cognisable offence, non-cognisable offence or a purely civil dispute, the DGP said.
Where a cognisable offence is established, the police station will be required to register an FIR. In non-cognisable cases, complainants may be advised to approach a magistrate, while purely civil disputes will remain outside the jurisdiction of the police, he said.
The portal will allow complainants to electronically track the progress of their complaints and, as provided under the new criminal laws, download a copy of the police inquiry conducted into the matter.
Senior police officers, from the police station level up to the DGP, will also be able to monitor the status of complaints through the system.
Sharma said the mechanism could be particularly useful in cases involving domestic violence, child abuse, stalking and harassment, where repeated complaints may help police identify patterns of behaviour and intervene before matters escalate into more serious offences.
“Your complaints will not go unanswered,” Sharma said, adding that complainants would be able to know whether an FIR had been registered and, where it had not, the reason for non-registration.
The DGP also acknowledged gaps between existing government mechanisms and their implementation on the ground, saying several agencies have mechanisms in place but lack adequate capacity to respond effectively.
He urged victims of violence and members of the public to report incidents, saying under-reporting makes it difficult for authorities to assess the scale of problems and determine the resources required, including manpower, safe homes, vehicles and helplines.
Sharma also clarified that police cannot intervene in purely civil disputes but said the presence of a criminal element would provide grounds for police intervention.
He cautioned NGOs, village councils, customary institutions and other civil society groups against taking the law into their own hands, particularly in cognisable offences such as rape and stalking.
Meanwhile, Director of Social Welfare Tosheli Zhimomi said One Stop Centres across Nagaland handled 311 cases of gender-based violence during the last financial year, while the Women Helpline received 144 cases.
The cases included domestic violence, cybercrime, sexual assault, missing persons and other situations involving women in distress, she said.
Under Mission Vatsalya, Child Welfare Committees received 640 cases involving children in need of care and protection during 2025-26, while Juvenile Justice Boards received 56 cases involving children in conflict with law. There were also 639 children in child care institutions, Zhimomi said.
The Child Helpline 1098 received 2,632 cases between September 1, 2023 and March 25, 2026.
As part of initiatives under Mission Shakti and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, the Social Welfare Department also plans to provide sanitary napkin vending machines and grievance-redressal “SHE” boxes to all registered schools in Nagaland in coordination with the state police.
Additional Secretary to the state government Olemjungla Aier said Mission Shakti and Mission Vatsalya could not function in isolation and called for active participation from the police, district legal services authorities and NGOs.
She described the police as key first responders, while noting the role of legal services authorities and NGOs in providing legal aid and connecting government services with communities.
The state-level convergence meeting was organised by Mission Vatsalya and Mission Shakti under the Department of Social Welfare in collaboration with Nagaland Police and the Nagaland State Legal Services Authority. It brought together key functionaries and frontline workers from all 17 districts to strengthen coordination and develop an integrated response to violence against women and children. (With inputs from PTI)