NFSU expands to 10 campuses in 15 years, but can it ease India's forensic science crisis?

From a single campus in Gujarat to a sprawling network across continents, the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) has emerged as a relief to India’s growing demand for forensic expertise. With its 11th campus set to open in Nagpur and over 4,400 students enrolled nationwide, NFSU currently runs about 40 different courses. The university also has a foreign campus in Uganda in East Africa.

“We are working now to establish the 11th campus of NFSU in Nagpur, Maharashtra. The foundation stone of it was laid down on May 26, 2025,” stated an official.

NFSU was established in 2009 as Gujarat Forensic Sciences University during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure as chief minister. In October 2020, NFSU was elevated to the Institution of National Importance status and made into a central university. The university held its first convocation in 2022 where a total of 1,132 students from 2019-21 and 2020-22 batches were conferred degrees.

“Starting with four courses in three institutes, the university shrugged off the inception stages very early with pioneering efforts of introducing distinctive courses that were unique such as forensic nursing, forensic odontology, forensic nursing, homeland security and anti-terrorism, digital forensics to mention a few,” states the university website.

The growth of this institution has come alongside an acute staffing crisis at forensic laboratories and declining faith in the quality of training in specialised programmes.

NFSU campuses

The erstwhile Gujarat Forensic University was established in Gandhinagar and JM Vyas was appointed as the first director general. Vyas is now the vice chancellor of the university with each campus having its own director.

With headquarters in Gandhinagar, the Delhi campus is the erstwhile Lok Nayak Jayprakash Narayan – National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences (LNJN-NICFS) at Rohini. Four more campuses were established in Ponda, Goa; Agartala, Tripura; Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh; and at Dharwad, Karnataka, in 2021. The campuses in Pune, Guwahati and Manipur came up in 2022.

“A transit campus is being established at southern wing of Manipur Police Training College (MPTC), Pangei, and government of Manipur has allotted nearly 5 acres adjacent to DFS-Manipur and 6th IRB at Pangei.The campus offers Post Graduate Diploma Programme in 5 different courses,” stated the official.

As per an official the NFSU(I) campus at Jinja, Uganda, is not only the first ever overseas campus of NFSU but also India’s first campus abroad for any public academic institution. It was inaugurated on April 12, 2023.

The university also has five affiliated institutions where about 405 students were enrolled as of March 2024.

Also read Farm to Bakery: College of Agriculture Pune’s bakehouse a hit; leads to plans for baking technology

NFSU: Student growth, courses

In the nine campuses within the country, 4,477 students are enrolled in different courses. The Gandhinagar campus leads in enrollment with 2,907 students across 49 different courses.

Though the growth of student strength has been consistent, faculty posts – that of professors and associate professors – are vacant on several campuses. Only Gandhinagar and Delhi have five and three professors, respectively. While other campuses like Tripura, Dharwad and Guwahati do not have a single associate professor, Delhi, Bhopal and Goa each have one, as per their annual report.

NFSU Courses: BSc, BTech, MTech, LLM

NFSU offers 124 programmes spanning undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD levels. The UG courses are of three-year duration and master’s courses span two years. The curriculum extends beyond traditional forensic science to include criminology, neuropsychology, forensic nanotechnology, forensic biotechnology, multimedia forensics, police and security studies and more.

It even offers BTech and MTech in computer science and engineering (cyber security), artificial intelligence and data science (specialisation in cyber security), robotics and automation.

The university also offers six-month diploma courses in:

• Crime scene management

• Fingerprint science

• Homeland security

• Cyber crime investigation

• Forensic journalism

• Forensic document examination

There are also separate one-year professional diploma courses in cyber psychology, investigative psychology, cyber crime investigation, forensic archaeology and others. The course is for those who have completed their graduation.

There are law courses as well, such as LLM in cyber law and cyber crime investigation, criminal law and justice administration, and others. Management courses in forensics include BBA and MBA with specialisation in forensic accounting and fraud investigation, MBA in cyber security management, business analytics and management.

NFSU also offers MPharm courses in forensic pharmacy, pharmaceutical quality assurance, and pharmaceutical chemistry.

Also read NCTE gives 15,000 standalone B.Ed colleges 5 years to become multidisciplinary, launch ITEP

The university has a School of Open Learning where it offers one to two months courses in forensic microbiology, machine learning for cyber security, forensic linguistics, sports law and forensic science to name a few.

“Our curriculum has been aligned with the new criminal laws that recognise forensic experts as frontline workers with enhanced roles and responsibilities. Tailor made programmes are curated to prepare future ready forensic workforce in line with the essence of new criminal laws that are more scientific evidence oriented and citizen centric,” wrote VC JM Vyas in the 2023-24 annual report.

The new criminal laws mandate forensic expert visits for crimes punishable by seven or more years. Union home minister Amit Shah, while introducing the three criminal laws, had projected that the country will produce 33,000 forensic experts annually after three years.

For the undergraduate course, the university conducts its own entrance. For the PG courses there is no entrance exam – it is on the basis of merit.

The university has been training a large number of officers from various countries of the African continent, south East Asia, Middle East nations, west Asia to mention a few.

It also has centres of excellence such Ballistics Research Centre and Testing Range, Cyber Defence Centre, International Centre for Forensic Narcotics, International Centre for Humanitarian Forensics. Recently the CoE in Nutrition Supplement for Sports Person has been established for reliable testing and certification of food supplements.

Also read NMC chief’s mantra for regulating medical colleges: ‘Friendly handshake, less policing’

Forensic Science: Staffing crisis

However, NFSU’s rapid expansion masks a troubling reality. The country’s forensic infrastructure is crumbling under acute staff shortages, with laboratories nationwide struggling to fill basic posts.

A 2023 report by Project 39A titled Forensic Science India Report stated: “Across the 26 laboratories which provided recruitment-related data, 40.3% (1,294 out of 3,211 posts) of total sanctioned posts were vacant”. Beyond existing vacancies, 17 laboratories have requested additional scientific staff positions. 39A was a project of members of National Law University (NLU) Delhi. From March 31, 2025, all the members began a new chapter at NALSAR Hyderabad as “The Square Circle Clinic”.

Project 39A identified deep-rooted issues. “The approval processes for sanctioning new posts and filling sanctioned posts are cumbersome, protracted and irregular. The recruitment processes and the eligibility criteria for every post vary across states.There is little adherence to prescribed work norms, which are aimed at the effective distribution of scientific and non-scientific work and regulating annual caseloads of different divisions to ensure the quality of forensic examination,” it stated.

The report adds that the delay in recruitment process results in hiring of contractual scientific staff and the new recruits do not undergo dedicated training before being assigned work.

Interestingly, it highlights another trend on how FSLs prefer hiring candidates with degrees in pure sciences rather than in forensic science. “It is due to the lack of regulation of forensic science education and standardised curricula with an emphasis on practical learning. Further, the professional practice of forensic science is also unregulated, despite the need to ensure the competence and proficiency of forensic examiners,” it said.

The report recommends that a Forensic Council of India (FCOI) must be established which in collaboration with NFSU should curate continuous forensic education programmes.

“Such registration should be based on qualifying examinations conducted by FCOI and NFSU. Towards regulating forensic science education, FCOI, DFSS (Directorate of Forensic Science Services) and NFSU must survey existing educational courses and institutions. Based on the survey, FCOI and NFSU must set standards for the curricula, teaching methods, infrastructure and laboratory equipment required,” stated the report.

Also read UGC’s foreign university nod could be India’s best bet to stop USD 80 billion study abroad brain drain

NFSU Placements: Missed 100% mark

The university has also not been able to achieve 100% placement in most of the campuses.

NFSU placements for 2023-24

This year’s details of the packages offered are not available. However, the 2022-23 placement details provide a breakup of the packages.

NFSU future plans

Minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on July 2024, had stated that the “National Forensic Infrastructure Enhancement Scheme”, comprises establishment of nine off-campuses of NFSU, seven central forensic science laboratories, and enhancement of existing infrastructure of the NFSU Delhi campus.

A Press Information Bureau (PIB) statement said, “The scheme had been approved by the cabinet on June 19, 2024, with a total financial outlay of Rs 2,254.43 crore from financial year 2024-25 to 2028-29, to enhance the forensic testing infrastructure and address the shortage of forensic professionals along with reducing pendency of cases in the forensic science laboratories in the country”.

Under the Modernization of Forensic Capacities scheme that has a total outlay of Rs 2,080.5 crore, Rs 236.25 crore has been released in order to establish off-campues, centres of excellence, and training/skilling academies accredited by the NFSU.