Safety of citizens is top priority of Centre: Union Minister Reddy

Safety and security of citizens is the top priority of the Centre, said Union Minister for Home G Kishan Reddy on Saturday, while speaking at the two-day national seminar on 'Cyber Security and Image Processing' organised by The Institute of Engineers.

An official statement quoted Reddy as saying: "The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has taken a series of proactive steps for safety and security of the country. Every individual wants a secure life and safe nation. Safety and security of citizens is a top priority of our government.

Reddy said with the growing use of information technology, need is to simultaneously protect the public and private infrastructure from cyber attacks and cyber incidents.

"Our government has recognised this threat and opened a separate division in the Ministry of Home Affairs to deal with matters related to cybercrime and cybersecurity in 2017," Reddy said.

The MHA has set up an Indian Cyber cum coordination centre to tackle internet-related crimes such as cyber threats and child pornography. The Centre will be the nodal point for the entire country in the fight against cybercrime, preventive misuse of cyberspace because of terrorist groups.

Reddy also said that the women safety is on the top priority of the Central government and Ministry of Home Affairs set up a new women safety division in 2018 to strengthen the measures and safety of women.

"Our focus is on the increased use of Information Technology in the criminal justice system and enabling a supporting ecosystem for forensic sciences and criminal records. We have initiated to set up a nationwide emergency response system to respond to the needs of women," he said.

Talking about the seminar, Reddy said: "I am confident that many useful innovation ideas will come out during this discussion in this seminar which would be beneficial to the stakeholders as well as in framing the policies of different state governments and the Central government.