The Centre on Friday directed law enforcement agencies of all states
and Union Territories to accord priority to online crimes against
women and children and ensure prompt and coordinated response to such
cases.
Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan further urged IT intermediaries to
strictly adhere to the provisions of the Information Technology Act
and relevant rules, and called upon all stakeholders to work
collectively towards ensuring a safe and secure digital ecosystem.
He was inaugurating the ‘National Dialogue on Online Crimes Against
Women and Children (OCWC)’ in New Delhi. The event was organised by
the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home
Affairs, with the objective of bringing together key stakeholders to
deliberate on strengthening coordinated mechanisms to prevent and
effectively respond to online crimes targeting women and children.
Govind Mohan highlighted the growing challenges posed by online crimes
in an increasingly digital ecosystem and emphasised the need for
strengthening institutional capacities at the state and Union
Territory-level to combat such offences effectively.
The Union Home Secretary stressed that States and UTs must develop
robust, specialised units and coordinated response mechanisms to
ensure timely investigation, victim support, and swift action against
perpetrators.
The National Dialogue provides a platform for knowledge exchange,
sharing of best practices, and collective deliberation on building a
coordinated national strategy to address the evolving challenges posed
by online crimes in the digital environment.
The inauguration also marked the launch of the Master Trainers
Induction Programme for states and Union Territories on Online Crimes
Against Women and Children, aimed at creating a national pool of
trained officers who will lead capacity-building initiatives in their
respective States and UTs.