I&B Ministry
Steps taken to prevent bullying of children on the internet, claims government
NEW DELHI: About 18 per cent of children have said that they have been victims of bullying on internet.
This is revealed by a survey report ‘Cyber Crime -2013 – Kids (India),’ published by software company Symantec which covered a sample size of just 203 kids.
Parliament was told this week that a website (secureyourpc.in) for children, home users and elderly is available for safeguarding their computer systems and learning the risks on internet.
Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said there had been some media reports that children are becoming victims of depression because of cyber bullying.
The Home Ministry had issued an Advisory on Preventing & combating Cyber Crime against Children on 4 January 2012, advising States/Union Territories to specifically combat the crimes in the forms of cyber stalking, cyber bullying, child pornography and exposure to sexually explicit material etc.
The Information Technology Act, 2000 has provision for dealing with cyber crimes targeting children.
The government has implemented Information Security Education Awareness (ISEA) programme including the programmes conducted by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Internet & Mobile Association of India (IMAI) and Data Security Council of India (DSCI) for security awareness and training in the area of information security.
Specific workshops have been conducted for school children on making them aware about risks on internet and adopting safe internet browsing practices. In these programmes around 710 workshops have been organised across the country covering large number of organisations, schools, students and teachers. During the workshops, awareness kits have also been distributed. Security awareness material like posters, DVDs, cartoon/animation videos have also been developed and widely distributed.
A dedicated website for information security awareness (www.infosecawareness.in) has also been developed and content is available in English and Hindi language.
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
