Union Minister details steps taken to prevent cybercrimes against women

Ludhiana, December 15, 2022: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra has stated that the Central Government has taken various measures to supplement the efforts of States/UTs to deal with cybercrimes against women.

He was replying to a question asked by Sanjeev Arora, MP (Rajya Sabha) in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Arora had asked the Minister about the strategy to address the increasing trend in cybercrime against women in light of the increasing incidents of abuse, indecency, stalking, impersonation, theft etc.

Giving this information here on Thursday, Arora said the Minister informed in the House that the Ministry of Home Affairs has set up the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)’ to provide ecosystem for tackling all types of cybercrime in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.

The Union Minister stated that the Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance under the ‘Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC)’ Scheme, to the States/UTs for their capacity building such as setting up of cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, hiring of junior cyber consultants and training of the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) personnel, public prosecutors and judicial officers. So far, cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories have been commissioned in 30 States/UTs.

Arora said the Minister further stated that training curriculum has been prepared for Law Enforcement Agencies personnel, prosecutors and judicial officers for better handling of investigation and prosecution. States/UTs have been mandated to organise training programmes. So far, more than 20,000 LEA personnel, judicial officers and prosecutors have been provided training on cybercrime awareness, investigation, forensics etc.

A toll-free helpline number ‘1930’ has been operationalized to get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints, the Minister stated. 

Arora said the Minister further informed that the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform has been developed, which helps in the capacity building of Police Officers/Judicial Officers through online course on critical aspects of cybercrime investigation, forensics, prosecution etc along with certification. So far, more than 27,900 Police Officers from States/UTs are registered and more than 7,300 Certificates issued.

Arora added the Minister also informed the House that to spread awareness on cybercrime, several steps have been taken that include issuance of alerts/ advisories, dissemination of messages etc.

Meanwhile, Arora has advised people of Punjab, especially women to remain vigilant about cybercrimes. He said the Cyber Crime Cell of the Punjab Police has been doing appreciable work, which is evident from the fact that this Cell has bagged the first prize and the award was presented at the National Conference of State Cyber Nodal Officers, organised by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) in New Delhi on August 31 this year.