‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The States/UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes including cyber crimethrough their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). The Central Government supplements the initiatives of the States/UTs through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for capacity building of their LEAs.

To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes, including cyber crimes against  women  and  children in a  comprehensive and coordinated manner, the Central Government has taken steps which, inter- alia, include the following:

1. The Ministry of Home Affairs has released financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 132.93 crores 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 LEAs’ personnel, public prosecutors and judicial officers.
2. Cyber Forensic-cum-Training Laboratories have been commissioned in

33 States/UTs namely Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha, Sikkim, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu, Punjab, Tripura, Puducherry, Chandigarh, J&K, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Manipur, Andman& Nicobar Islands and Delhi. In Tamil Nadu the laboratory is only partially functional.

3. Training curriculum has been prepared for LEA personnel, Public Prosecutors and Judicial officers for better handling of investigation and prosecution. States/UTs have been requested to organize training programmes. More than 24,600 LEA personnel, Public Prosecutors and Judicial officers have been provided training on cyber crime awareness, investigation, forensics etc. under CCPWC Scheme
4. Cyber crime Reporting Portal (https://cybercrime.gov.in) was launched on 20.09.2018. This portal was a centralized online platform which allowed citizens to report online content pertaining to Child Pornography (CP)/Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) or sexually explicit content such as Rape/Gang Rape(RGR) content. A revamped National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal was launched on 30.08.2019 to enable citizens to report all types of cyber-crimes with a special focus on cyber crime against women & children.
5. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) and Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) have been notified as an agency of Government of India to issue notices to intermediaries under section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act for removal of Child Pornography (CP), Rape & Gang Rape (RGR) content on 13.08.2018 and 13.03.2024 respectively.
6. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed on 26.04.2019 between the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), India and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), USA regarding receiving of Tip line report on online child pornography and child sexual exploitation contents from NCMEC.
7. With a view to strategically curb cyber crimes and take prompt action, the Ministry of Home Affairs has taken a policy decision to set up the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ (I4C) as an attached office on 01.07.2024 to deal with all types of cyber crimes in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.

This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Shri Bandi Sanjay Kumar in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

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RK/VV/RR/HS/PS/PR

(Release ID: 2152495)