29-Jul-2021: Role of Internet in Trafficking
The Information Technology Act, 2000 has provisions to deal with prevalent cyber-crimes and to prevent exploitation initiated through the internet. `Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. States/UTs are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes including cybercrime through their Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). The LEAs take legal action as per provisions of law against the offenders. The Central Government supplements the initiatives of State Governments through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for their capacity building.
Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance to all States & UTs under Cyber Crime Prevention against Women & Children (CCPWC) scheme to support their efforts for setting up of cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, training and hiring of junior cyber consultants. Cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories have also been commissioned in 18 States. The Central Government has taken steps for spreading awareness about cybercrimes, issuance of alerts, capacity building/ training of law enforcement personnel/ prosecutors/ judicial officers, improving cyber forensic facilities etc. The Government has established Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to provide a framework and eco-system for LEAs to deal with the cybercrimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in), is available to enable the public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cybercrimes, with a special focus on cybercrimes against women and children. A toll-free number 155260 has been operational for assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.