Rs 800-crore centre to help people check malware in computers

Amid growing use of IT, the government today said it will step up cyber security measures under Digital India programme starting with a Rs 800 crore centre that will help people check and clean their computer system from viruses and other malwares.
"We are going to make national cyber coordination centre at an estimated cost of Rs 800 crore. For this we are carrying out inter-ministerial consultation... It will have capability to tell you that your computer system is infected and will clean that infection as well," Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a conference on 100-days performance of his ministry.

The project has to be approved by the Cabinet.
Besides this, the government will set up an e-governance security centre at a cost of Rs 270 crore for ensuring security of all e-governance initiatives which has witnessed crores of transactions.
Highlighting the importance of the programme, Prasad said funds will not be a problem for Digital India - the umbrella programme designed by NDA government.
"Digital India is an umbrella programme with an outlay of Rs 1.13 lakh crore and Prime Minister declared it as a national programme on August 15 and Cabinet has also approved it, money shall not be a problem as fas as the success of Digital India programme is concerned," Prasad said.

The programme was conceptualised in a span of less than three months and consequently endorsed by the Union Cabinet on August 20.

The programme includes projects that aim to ensure that government services are available to citizens electronically and people get benefit of the latest information and communication technology.
Prasad said the government is working on national optical fibre network (NOFN) which will be completed by 2017 to provide broadband services in all 2.5 lakh panchayats at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore.
The Digital India programme will be implemented in phases from the current year till 2018.
The vision of the government under the project includes creation of ICT infrastructure like high-speed Internet at gram panchayat level, on-demand availability of government services like health, education etc, and digital empowerment of citizens, specially through digital literacy.

Under the programme, the government will train one person in each household digitally through ICT training to 10 lakh persons with an outlay of Rs 376 crore.
"SC, ST and below poverty line people will not have to pay any fees. Other will have to pay very nominal fees," Prasad said.
On spectrum issue -- a key component to spread telecom services through mobile devices -- he said Department of Telecom is working on guidelines for spectrum trading and sharing which will be in place by the end of this year.