Govt nod to cyber crime centre

Are you being stalked on the Internet or your video clip has been uploaded mischievously? Soon you will be able to report to the Indian Cyber Crime and Coordination Centre being created by the Modi government, especially to deal with cyber crimes against women and children. An in- principle approval has been given to the move which is set to bring a paradigm shift to the way cyber crimes have so far been dealt with in the country. So far, state governments use their limited expertise to investigate such complaints which bring little relief to the victims.

After the Nirbhaya tragedy, the Union home ministry has been working on such a move to include cyber crimes in the realm of serious crimes against women and children. ` 244 crore has already been earmarked to kick- off the project , where state- oftheart forensic tools and a Central department under MHA will be set up to probe all such cases.

The creation of the centre has been pegged at a total of ` 4.5 crore and will be a separate cell that will work under the aegis of the home ministry.

The Centre will have forensic experts drawn from various fields who have expertise in cyber tools and investigation. While the complaints of cyber crime may still be registered by the local law enforcement agencies, the centre will provide that critical setup that is missing so far to bring the cases to their logical conclusion. The MHA and women and child development had been working on the mega project for sometime, with top sources disclosing that an in- principle approval has been given to it.

The immediate impetus to the move has come from the sudden sharp rise in use of social media platforms in the last few years where complaints have been pouring in of unwilling women finding their photos being posted on sites, child pornography.