UP Police wins SKOCH Gold for tech-driven safety initiatives

Uttar Pradesh Police Wins SKOCH Gold Award 2025

The Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) for Mahakumbh-2025 and the Meta Suicide Alert system of the Uttar Pradesh Police have received the SKOCH Gold Award 2025. This award recognizes their technology-led contributions to public safety and governance. Senior police officials announced this on Saturday.

The awards were presented at the 105th SKOCH Summit in New Delhi. The theme of the summit was ‘Governing Viksit Bharat’.

Uttar Pradesh Police is the only police force in India to win SKOCH awards in two different categories.

Details of the Meta Suicide Alert System

The Suicide Alert system was developed with Meta (Facebook). It allows real-time police intervention when suicide-related content is posted on Facebook or Instagram. Alerts are sent to the UP Police Social Media Centre, which operates a 24×7 desk integrated with STF servers. This setup enables rapid location tracking and district-level response.

From January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2025, the initiative helped save 1,805 lives. This includes 1,389 men and 416 women. Many of those rescued were adolescents and young adults, showing the system’s important social relevance.

Function of the Integrated Command and Control Centre

During Mahakumbh-2025, the ICCC acted as the event’s nerve centre. It used artificial intelligence and advanced analytics for crowd estimation, traffic management, emergency response, disaster preparedness, and inter-agency coordination. The centre also provided pilgrim support through chatbots, mass messaging, and app-based services. This ensured smoother movement and increased safety during the large religious gathering.

Presentation of the Award

The SKOCH Gold Award was received on behalf of UP Police by Amit Kumar, IPS, former in-charge of Mahakumbh ICCC, and Rahul Srivastava, PRO to the DGP. They were joined by Satya Yadav, director Outreach (South Asia) at Meta. In addition to rescue operations, UP Police has made mandatory counselling a requirement for all suicide attempt cases through Mission Shakti centres and 1090 tele-counsellors. This aims for long-term prevention.