A primal goal in state building is the establishment of conditions of safety for residents. This creates conditions for individuals to explore the world, and engage in creativity and leadership, across all walks of life from economics to politics, thus positively impacting upon the culture. The criminal justice system is the state-run institutional arrangement which is tasked with creating these conditions of safety of individuals. Traditionally, policy thinking on the criminal justice system has emphasised inputs (expenditures, recruitment) and outputs (trials, prisoners). As with other elements of public policy, it is important to measure outcomes: the safety as seen by residents. Crime victimisation surveys are the fundamental building block of the criminal justice system which deliver outcomes measurement. A regular program of such measurement can feed back into improved working of the criminal justice system, and the analysis of the causes and consequences of personal safety. In this paper we review developments on this measurement program in India of recent years.

Crime Victimisation Surveys in Indian Criminal Justice System Reform, Renuka Sane, Ajay Shah, Chapter 1 In: Krishnaswamy, S., Sane, R., Shah, A., Aithala, V. (eds) Crime Victimisation in India. Springer Series on Asian Criminology and Criminal Justice Research, published by Springer, Cham, pages 1-10, October 2022. DOI URL.