PANVEL MUNICIPAL CORPORATION ANNOUNCEMENT WILL TAKE TIME Cyber-safety week ends on musical note

Panvel MLA Prashant Thakur has ruled out the possibility that the state government will announce the formation of Panvel Municipal Corporation ( PMC) on January 26. Thakur has said that while the government is looking positively at the issue, the process will take longer because various formalities have to be completed.

Speaking at a press conference in Panvel on Saturday, Thakur said, “Under the leadership of former MP Ramseth Thakur, we met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis with the demand for for mation of PMC with the inclusion of areas around Panvel Municipal Council, that is, Kharghar, Kalamboli, Kamothe, Ulwe, Karanja and others. He had given us a positive response.”

Thakur said, “He has now formed a committee to look into the proposal and submit a report to him in a month. Meanwhile, our council too has approved a resolution, a couple of days ago, approving the proposal.”

Thakur said, “Though there has been speculation that the announcement about PMC will take place on January 26, it is not practically possible. Once the committee submits its report, the government will study it and there could be more discussion. Later, the government will also call for suggestions and objections from the public. This will take time.”

Thakur said, “Though we cannot put a date on the announcement, what is sure is that it will happen.”

Stating that the smart city project of City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) will not clash with the municipal corporation’s powers, Thakur said, “The government has planned the development of the region under Cidco MD Sanjay Bhatia, who is the mentor of the smart city project. If the corporation comes into being, the government will clarify the powers of the bodies.”

He said, “It is obvious that Cidco has not been able to take care of the basic civic amenities of the region and that is why people have organised many morchas. All this will be taken into consideration.”

A variety of seminars on data security, intellectual property rights, social media, cyber terrorism, digital evidence search and seizure, banking and financial crime and digital privacy were organised in various parts of Navi Mumbai throughout the week.

The seminars were part of the cyber safety week initiative launched by the Navi Mumbai police department in association with a bank and a few private companies. The cyber safety week concluded on Saturday at the DY Patil Auditorium, Nerul, where actor R Mahadevan was the chief guest along with Nandkumar Saravade, former deputy inspector general of police with CBI, and currently a top security professional.

Those present for the finale included Prabhat Ranjan, commissioner of police Navi Mumbai, and additional commissioner of police Vijay Chauhan.

The programme started with dances performed by school-goers and collegians on the theme of cyber safety.

Addressing the c r owd , Mahadevan said “Rural villages have also got access to social media as I regularly get messages about my films.” He said, “Social media are being rampantly used to dupe people, especially youth, and I appeal to the education department to make cyber safety an essential subject in schools and colleges.”

“I would want to work out a strategy in which we could conduct awareness programs in schools and colleges, so that young Dancers of Navi Mumbai-based Elevate Dance Institute perform on the concluding day of cyber-safety week. people would be forewarned about the risks online, and make themselves aware and secure,” said Prabhat Ranjan.

“We have still miles to go before we can educate people so that they would be safe and secure from cyber crime,” said Sangeeta Alphonso, senior police inspector, Nerul police station, and cyber law expert.

Heart Foundation, along with city police, announced it is planning to conduct training programmes on cyber safety for schoolchildren.