Modi govt has set up infrastructure upto police post level to deal with cybercrimes in 7 years: Amit Shah

Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah on Tuesday asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government has "fully completed the work of setting up of infrastructure to deal with cybercrimes in the country up to the police post-level" in its seven-year regime.

Shah's statement came while he was chairing the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Parliament premises here on the topic "Cyber Crime: Threats, Challenges and Response".

Noting that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi the Central government has taken many important steps to tackle cybercrime, the minister said, "Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) has now been implemented in all 16,347 police stations of the country".

"In 99 per cent of the police stations, 100 per cent FIRs are being registered directly in the CCTNS. This also includes the newly established police stations," said Shah.

The Home Minister further said that the work of making analytical tools against cyber crimes has also been completed up to 40 per cent and that "efforts are being made to train police and lawyers to prevent cyber crimes".

Shah said that e-initiatives by the Ministry of Home Affairs to deal with cybercrimes, such as the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), facilitates victims or complainants to report cybercrime online.

"The National Cybercrime Threat Analysis Unit (NCTAU) has issued 142 cybercrime prevention advisories and has blocked 266 mobile apps. A total of 3,800 forensic services were also provided by the National Cybercrime Forensic Laboratory (NCFL)."

As per the Minister, seven Joint Cyber Crime Coordination Groups (JCCTs) have also been constituted which include all the states and Union Territories.

"National Cybercrime Training Center (NCTC) registered 8,075 police personnel for online training and issued 1,877 certificates. Five Research and Development proposals of the National Cyber Research and Innovation Center (NCR&IC) were also selected. A total of 960 cyber security tips have been issued and more are being constantly issued on social media by concerned organisations," Shah said.

The Home Minister said that the government is committed to dealing with every aspect of this new menace and as public representatives, it is the responsibility of all of us to try to spread awareness about cybercrimes.

During the meeting, various initiatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs towards the prevention of cybercrimes and awareness were discussed and analysed.

These initiatives include National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, a centralized system to report cybercrimes online 24X7 from anywhere; Cyber Capacity Building by setting up of Cyber Forensic-cum-Training Labs in States and Union territories; Training of Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs); 'CyTrain' portal for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) for the training of LEAs; Cyber Crime Coordination Mechanism by constituting Joint Cyber Coordination Teams (JCCTs) in consultation with States and Union Territories based upon cybercrime hotspots or areas; and Cyber Crime Volunteer Framework and Coordination Mechanism at National or International level.

The initiatives focusing on Cyber Awareness and Cyber Hygiene Promotion among the general public through '@CyberDost' social media handle of MHA; regular SMSs to citizens as cyber safety tips in collaboration with the Department of Telecommunication; and "Cyber Jaagrookta (Awareness) Diwas" in schools, colleges, and Panchayati Raj institutions so as to strengthen the mechanism to deal with cybercrimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner were discussed.

During the discussions, embers gave constructive suggestions for further strengthening and improvement of response mechanisms to effectively deal with the menace of cybercrimes, challenges and responsibilities, including the importance of cyber hygiene for the prevention of cybercrimes.

Ministers of State for Home Nityanand Rai, Ajay Kumar Mishra and Nishith Pramanik and several senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs including the Union Home Secretary were also present in the meeting.

( With inputs from ANI )