Explain note ban impact on black money: MPs to home ministry

What has been the impact of demonetisation on generation of hidden (‘black’) money which was being used to fund terrorism, a parliamentary panel has asked the Union home ministry.

Rajiv Gauba, who will take over as home secretary in August, has been asked for the government’s responses in writing in two weeks.

According to sources, members of the standing committee on finance wanted to know this from the home ministry officials who briefed them on the steps being taken to secure a digital economy.

The issue came up as the government had defended the controversial demonetisation decision, saying it was needed to curb black money which also helped fund terrorist attacks from across the border.

Gauba, who briefed the lawmakers, said firewalls, software systems meant to prevent digital attacks, were still evolving, though several institutions have been set up by the government to protect financial sector and banking data from malafide cyber attacks.

The issue of legality of crypto-currency and bitcoins was raised by some opposition MPs as Gulshan Rai of Cert-IN briefed the standing committee on various technical issues related to cyber security. Officials said ~1,000 crore was being spent to strengthen cyber security. They said though the size of digital transactions was low here at ~200 crore as compared to ~5,400 crore worldwide, this is expected to double to ~400 crore in a few months.

The relevance of penal code sections in dealing with cyber crime came for discussion during the hearing. Officials said the T K Vishwanathan panel looking into the Information Technology Act would give an interim interim report next month.

Niti Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant, who could not appear before the panel, has been asked to come on Thursday. Officials of Nasscom, the software sector’s apex business association, will also brief the standing committee on that day, on the digital economy and safety, said sources.