Lok Sabha Question No. 518 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-19
Subject: Cyber Security for GSTN
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: RAKSHA NIKHIL KHADSE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  656

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## JOB LOSSES IN IT SECTOR

656 :     SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:    SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:    SHRI RAM KUMAR SHARMA: SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK:  SHRI P.R. SUNDARAM:  DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN: ADV. JOICE GEORGE:  SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN: SHRI  MOHITE  PATIL  VIJAYSINH  SHANKARRAO:    DR.  HEENA  VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether the Government's attention has been drawn towards the slow digitisation and job losses in the IT sector, if so, the details of jobs being provided in IT Sector presently and the reasons for slow down in job growth in IT Sector;
- (b) whether the Government has assessed the number of people who have been rendered jobless in the IT Sector and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is planning to convene a meeting of bigwigs of the tech industry to get an outlook  on  the  sector  and  the  help  that  they  need  from  the  Government  to  expand  India's  digital economy and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the other corrective steps taken by the Government to arrest job losses in the IT Sector;
- (e) whether the information technology sector has been providing employment to 40 lakh persons on an average annually; and
- (f) if so, the facts in this regard and the current status thereof ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)

(a) and (b):   According to National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the ITITeS industry is estimated to employ nearly 39 lakh people in 2017, an addition of ~170,000 people over FY 2016.  There is a continuing trend of  gentle deceleration in net hiring growth rate (but with a growing base) as industry focuses on innovation, new digital technologies and enhanced efficiencies.  Companies are  re-aligning  and  re-adjusting  themselves  to  the  changing  business  scenarios  and  adjusting  their workforce accordingly.  Additionally, technologies such as advanced robotics and automation are changing job roles drastically across industries.

- (c)  and  (d):        Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  has  already  conducted  a  high  level round table discussion  on 16-06-2017 with bigwigs of the IT-ITeS industry for developing the roadmap for one trillion dollar digital economy of India.
- (e) and (f):    According to NASSCOM, employment to 40 lakh persons on an average annually by the IT industry is not tracked. However, the industry is estimated to employ nearly 39 lakh people currently, an addition of ~170,000 people over FY 2016.  The trend over the last 3 years is as follows:

| Year      | Number of Total employees   | Net addition during the year   | Growth in Total employees   |
|-----------|-----------------------------|--------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| FY2014-15 | 3,485,000                   | 217,000                        | 7%                          |
| FY2015-16 | 3,688,000                   | 203,000                        | 6%                          |
| FY2016-17 | 3,863,000                   | 175,000                        | 5%                          |

Source: NASSCOM

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.612

TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.07.2017

## SEMI -CONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING UNIT

## 612:     SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  is  considering  to  set  up  second  fabrication  facility  in  Gujarat, where  conducive  policy  environment,  development  in  the  field  of  semi-conductors manufacturing and leading edge of Gujarat in manufacturing exists, which makes it a very good case for manufacturing Analog Integrated Circuits/ Solar PV cells and wafers;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P. P. CHOUDHARY)

- (a),  (b)  and  (c):      Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  has  issued  a  Letter  of Intent dated 19.03.2014 to M/s. HSMC Technologies India Pvt. Ltd. (with ST Microelectronics and  Silterra  Malaysia  Sdn.  Bhd.  as  partners)  for  setting  up  Semiconductor  Wafer  Fabrication (FAB) facility with proposed location at Prantij, Gujarat. Also, under Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS), two proposals for setting up vertically integrated Solar Photovoltaic (PV) facilities at Kutch, Gujarat have been submitted by M/s. Mundra Solar Photovoltaic Ltd. and M/s. Mundra Solar Ltd.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 469

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## CYBER SECURITY

## 469 SHRI SISIR KUMAR ADHIKARI:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether India ranks 4th globally in cyber threats of hacking data;
- (b) if so, the action proposed by the Government on security breaches therefor;
- (c) whether India has an instance of increase in cyber fraud from 3.4 per cent in 2015 to 5.1 per cent in 2016 therein; and
- (d) if so, the proposed action of the Government to prevent such attacks/threats?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

(a):   There have been some media reports based on the survey by Symantec indicating India ranks 4th globally in cyber threats of hacking data.

(c): With  the  proliferation  of  Information  Technology  and  related  services  there  is  a  rise  in instances of cyber crimes in the country like elsewhere in the world. As per the data maintained by National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB),  a  total  of  9622  and  11592  cyber  crime  cases  were registered during the years 2014 and 2015 respectively, showing a rise of 20% during 2014 to 2015. This includes cases registered under the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 and related sections of Indian Penal Code and  Special & Local Laws involving computer as medium/ target. Similar data for  the  year  2016  is  under  collection.    Further,  as  per  the  information  reported  to  and  tracked  by Indian  Computer  Emergency  Response  Team (CERT-In),  a total  no.  of  44679,  49455,  50362 and 27482 cyber security incidents were observed during  the year 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 (till June) respectively.  The  types  of  cyber  security  incidents  include  phishing,  scanning/probing,  website intrusions and defacements, virus/malicious code, ransomware, Denial of Service attacks, etc.

(b) and (d): Government has taken a number of legal, technical and administrative policy measures for addressing cyber security.  These include  the following, namely:-

- I. Enactment  of  the  Information  Technology  (IT)  Act,  2000  which  has  adequate  provisions  for safety of sensitive personal information.
- II. Government is implementing a Framework for enhancing cyber security, with a multi-layered approach  for  ensuring  defence-in-depth  and  clear  demarcation  of  responsibilities  among  the stakeholder organizations in the country.
- III. Government  has  established  National  Critical  Information  Infrastructure  Protection  Centre (NCIIPC) as per the  provisions  of  Section  70A  of  the  IT  Act,  2000  for  protection  of  Critical Information Infrastructure in the country.
- IV. The CERT-In, a statutory authority under IT Act, 2000, issues alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats and countermeasures on regular basis.  CERT-In has published guidelines for securing IT infrastructure, which are available on its website (www.certin.org.in).  In order to detect variety of threats and imminent cyber attacks from outside the country, periodic scanning of cyber space is carried out.
- V. Government has initiated setting up of National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) to generate necessary situational awareness of existing and potential cyber security threats and enable timely information sharing for proactive, preventive and protective actions by individual entities.
- VI. Cyber  Crime  Cells  have  been  set  up  in  all  States  and  Union  Territories  for  reporting  and investigation of Cyber Crime cases.
- VII. Government has  set  up  cyber  forensic  training  and  investigation  labs  in  the  States  of  Kerala, Assam,  Mizoram,  Nagaland,  Arunachal  Pradesh,  Tripura,  Meghalaya,  Manipur  and  Jammu  & Kashmir for training of law enforcement personnel and Judiciary in these States.
- VIII. Industry  associations  such  as  Data  Security  Council  of  India  (DSCI),  NASSCOM,  Cyber Forensic Labs, set up in certain States, have taken up tasks of awareness creation and training programmes on Cyber Crime investigation.  Academia like National Law School, Bangalore and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad are also engaged in conducting several awareness and training programmes on Cyber Laws and Cyber crimes for judicial officers.
- IX. A  number  of  Cyber  forensics  tools  for  collection,  analysis  and  presentation  of  the  digital evidence have been developed indigenously and such tools are being used by law enforcement Agencies.
- X. CERT-In  and  Centre  for  Development  of  Advanced  Computing  (C-DAC)  are  involved  in providing basic and advanced training to law enforcement agencies, Forensic labs and judiciary on the procedures and methodology of collecting, analysing and presenting digital evidence.
- XI. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issues Circulars/advisories to all Commercial Banks on phishing attacks and preventive / detective measures to tackle phishing attacks.  RBI also issues advisories relating to fictitious offers of funds transfer, remittance towards participation in lottery, money circulation schemes and other fictitious offers of cheap funds.
- XII. All banks have been mandated to report cyber security incidents to CERT-In expeditiously.
- XIII. All  authorised  entities/banks  issuing  Prepaid  Payment  Instruments  (PPIs)  in  the  country  have been advised to carry out audit by the empanelled auditors of CERT-In on a priority basis and take  immediate  steps  thereafter  to  comply  with  the  findings  of  the  audit  report  and  ensure implementation  of  security  best  practices.  Government  has  empanelled  54  security  auditing organisations to support and audit implementation of Information Security Best Practices.
- XIV. Government  has  formulated  Cyber  Crisis  Management  Plan  for  countering  cyber  attacks  for implementation by all Ministries/ Departments of Central Government, State Governments and their  organizations  and  critical  sectors.  Regular  workshops  are  conducted  for  Ministries, Departments, States & UTs and critical organizations to sensitize them about the cyber security threat  landscape  and  enabling  them  to  prepare  and  implement  the  Cyber  Crisis  Management Plan.
- XV. Government has launched the Cyber Swachhta Kendra (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre). The centre is providing detection of malicious programs and free tools to remove the same for banks as well as common users.
- XVI. Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  has  issued  National  Information  Security  Policy  and  Guidelines (NISPG) to Government organizations to ensure safety of data and minimize cyber threats.
- XVII. Cyber security mock drills are being conducted regularly to enable assessment of cyber security posture and preparedness of organizations in Government and critical sectors. 15 such drills have so  far  been  conducted  by  CERT-In  where  148  organisations  from  different  states  and  sectors such  as  Finance,  Defence,  Power,  Telecom,  Transport,  Energy,  Space,  IT/ITeS,  etc  have participated.
- XVIII. CERT-In is conducting cyber security trainings for IT / cyber security professionals including Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) of Government and critical sector organisations. 14 training programs covering 431 participants and 13 training programs covering 329 participants were conducted during 2016 and 2017 (till June).
- XIX. Ministry  of  Electronics  &  Information  Technology  (MEITY)  regularly  conducts  programs  to generate  information  security  awareness.  Specific  book,  videos  and  online  materials  are developed  for  children,  parents  and  general  users  about  information  security  which  are disseminated through Portals like 'http://infosecawareness.in/' and 'www.cyberswachhtakendra.in'

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 504

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## CERT-IN

## 504             SHRI V. ELUMALAI:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a)    whether the Government has asked all digital payment agencies to report to CERT-In (Computer Emergency Response Team) regarding any unusual activity that they see on their platforms and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)        whether  the  Government  is  undertaking  a  massive  programme  to  create  awareness  among  administrators, judges etc. and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)     whether to strengthen cyber security, the Government has approved various new posts in CERT-In and State CERTs; and
- (d)    if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

(a):    All  organisations  providing  digital  payment  services  have  been  mandated  to  report  cyber  security  incidents expeditiously to Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), a statutory  body under IT Act, 2000.

- (b):  Government is undertaking following initiatives to create awareness among administrators, judges etc. namely:-
- (i) Government has set up cyber forensic training and investigation labs in the States of Kerala, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland,  Arunachal  Pradesh,  Tripura,  Meghalaya,  Manipur  and  Jammu  &  Kashmir  for  training  of  law enforcement personnel and Judiciary in these States.
- (ii) Industry associations such as Data Security Council of India (DSCI), NASSCOM, Cyber Forensic Labs, set up in certain States, have taken up tasks of awareness creation and training programmes on Cyber Crime investigation. Academia like National Law School, Bangalore and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad are also engaged in conducting several awareness and training programmes on Cyber Laws and Cyber crimes for judicial officers.
- (iii) Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  is  implementing  'Information  Security  Education  and Awareness (ISEA)' project to train  professionals  /  government  officials  and  create  mass  information  security awareness among citizens. The Project is implemented by 52 institutions across the country. 20,369 persons had either been trained or were undergoing training in various formal/non-formal courses focusing on Cyber Security till  2016.  Through  direct  training  programs  3,718  Government  personnel  have  been  trained.  So  far,  C-DAC Hyderabad has conducted 458 Awareness workshops for various user groups covering 51,225 participants from 24 States and 2 UTs including 7,559 participants from Central/State Government and police.
- (iv) CERT-In and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) are involved in providing basic and advanced training to law enforcement agencies, Forensic labs and judiciary on the procedures and methodology of collecting, analysing and presenting digital evidence.
- (v) CERT-In is conducting cyber security trainings for IT / cyber security professionals including Chief Information Security  Officers  (CISOs)  of  Government  and  critical  sector  organisations.  18  such  training  programs  were conducted  covering  580  participants  during  the  year  2016.  In  addition  a  workshop  on  security  of  digital payments systems has been conducted for stakeholder organisations covering 110 participants.

(c) and (d): To strengthen cyber security, during the period from April, 2014 to March, 2017, the following numbers of  posts  in  CERT-In,  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (MeitY)    have  been    created/revived/ transferred with the approval of Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure, namely:-

- i. Department  of  expenditure  vide  I.D.  No.  291642/E.Coord.  1  (2)/2016  dated    15.11.2016  has  created  20 S&T posts for Cyber Swachhta Kendra, a project under CERT-In.
- ii. Department of Expenditure vide I.D. No. 312896/E.Coord.I/2016 dated 19.12.2016 has created 65 S&T and Non-S&T posts for National Cyber Coordination Centre under CERT-In.
- iii. 26 numbers of S&T and Non-S&T posts for CERT-In have been revived in 2016.
- iv. 8 numbers of S&T posts for CERT-In have been revived in 2016.
- v. Beside above 22 S&T posts have been/being transferred by MeitY to CERT-In in phased manner. These were created for CERT-In activities in the year 2006 while CERT-In was a project of the then Department of Electronics and Information Technology.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 518

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## CYBER SECURITY FOR GSTN

## 518 SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a)  whether Government proposes to set up a separate cyber security entity for GSTN (Goods Tax Network); and

- (b) if so, the details thereof and the progress made so far in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

- (a):    There  is  no  proposal  to  set  up  a  separate  Cyber  Security  Entity  for  GSTN.  The  cyber security is part of GST system and a dedicated Security Operations Command Center (SOOC) is operational 24x7x365 as part of GSTN.

- (b):   Does not arise.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 588

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## CYBER ATTACK

588

SHRI JITENDRA CHAUDHURY:  SHRI DHARAM VIRA:

SHRI HARISH MEENA:  SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL:

SHRI RAJU SHETTY:  SHRI R. DHRUVA NARAYANA:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether recently there was a world-wide cyber attack including India;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the damages caused as a result thereof;
- (c) the steps being taken by the Government in this regard;
- (d) whether any study has been conducted to identify the cyber threats in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether adequate number of cyber security experts are available in the country and if so, the steps being taken in this regard; and
- (f) whether Government is planning to amend the existing regulations for promotion of cyber security and if so, the steps being taken in this regard, so far?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

(a) and (b): Propagation of  ransomware called WannaCry / WannaCrypt  has been reported in many countries around the world including India since 12 May 2017.   Propagation of another ransomware called Petya was also reported since 27 June 2017. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that infects a computer and restricts users' access to affected files by encrypting them until a ransom is paid to unlock it.

34 incidents have been reported to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) from organisations and individuals regarding infections of Wannacry and Petya ransomware. As reported to CERT-In, operations of one sea port were partially affected by the Petya ransomware. Remedial measures to contain damage and prevent such incidents have been advised by CERT-In.

- (c):   The following steps have been taken by the Government to prevent recent ransomware attacks, namely:-
- i. CERT-In has issued an advisory regarding detection and prevention of Wannacry ransomware on  its  website  on  13  May  2017.  Advisory  regarding  detection  and  prevention  of  Petya ransomware was issued by CERT-In on 27 June 2017.
- ii. CERT-In has issued a vulnerability note on its  website with a Severity  Rating of  'High' on March  15,  2017  suggesting  information  regarding  vulnerabilities  in  Microsoft  Windows systems which have been exploited by Wannacry ransomware alongwith remedial measures.
- iii. CERT-In  has  informed  various  key  oragnisations  in  the  country  regarding  the  ransomware threat and advised measures to be taken to prevent the same. A webcast was also conducted in this regard for organisations and users.
- iv. Free  tools  for  detection  and  removal  of  wannacry  ransomware  have  been  provided  on  the website of Cyber Swachhta Kendra (www.cyberswachhtakendra.gov.in).

Apart from the specific steps mentioned above, the following steps have also been taken to prevent malware/ransomware threats, namely:-

- i. The  CERT-In  issues  alerts  and  advisories  regarding  latest  cyber  threats/vulnerabilities and countermeasures to protect systems and mobile devices.
- ii. Government has launched the Cyber Swachhta  Kendra (Botnet  Cleaning  and  Malware Analysis Centre). The centre is providing detection of malicious programs and free tools to remove the same for banks as well as common users.
- iii. Security  tips  have  been  published  for  users  to  secure  their  Desktops  and  mobile/smart phones.
- iv. Ministry of Electronics &  Information Technology (MEITY)  regularly conducts programs to generate information security awareness. Specific book, videos and online materials are developed for children, parents and general users about information security which are disseminated through Portals like 'http://infosecawareness.in/' and www.cyberswachhtakendra.in

(d): In tune with the dynamic nature of Information Technology and limited  time available for an effective response, continuous efforts are required to be made to detect and prevent cyber attacks by way  of      continuous  threat  assessment  and  near  real-time  situational  awareness.    Such  timely information  enables  coordinated  actions  by  the  stakeholders  to  take  appropriate  proactive  and preventive actions.

Concerted efforts are being made to harvest the requisite information from multiple sources. These include  incidents  reported  to  and  tracked  by  CERT-In,  technical  measures,  security  cooperation arrangement  with  overseas  Computer  Emergency  Response  Teams  (CERTs)  and  leading  security product and service vendors as well as agencies within the government. In addition, the study reports published by various agencies across the world are also studied to understand the historical data with respect to global threat landscape and threat predictions. As such, Government has not conducted a separate study to identify cyber threats.

(e): Towards  enhancing  qualified  cyber  security  manpower,  following  steps  have  been  taken, namely:-

- i. Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  is  implementing  the  Information  Security Education and Awareness (ISEA) project which aims to generate 1.14 lakhs qualified professionals at  various levels in period of 5 years.  A total of 52 institutions in various categories across the country are participating in the project.  Besides, National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) is conducting certification courses for creation of cyber security professionals.
- ii. CERT-In  conducts  regular  training  programme  to  make  the  network  and  system  administrators aware  about  securing  the  IT  infrastructure  and  mitigating  cyber  attacks.  CERT-In  is  regularly conducting Cyber Crisis Management  Plan (CCMP)  workshops for Central Government Ministries/Departments, States & UTs and critical sector organisations to sensitise them about the cyber  security  threat  landscape,  enabling  them  to  prepare  and  implement  the  Cyber  Crisis Management Plan as well as participate in the mock drill exercises.
- iii. Cyber  forensics  training  lab  has  been  set  up  at  Training  Academy  of  Central  Bureau  of Investigation  (CBI),  Ghaziabad  to  impart  basic  and  advanced  training  in  cyber  forensics  and investigation of cybercrimes to police officers. In addition, Government has set up cyber forensic training  and  investigation  labs  in  the  States  of  Kerala,  Assam,  Mizoram,  Nagaland,  Arunachal Pradesh,  Tripura,  Meghalaya,  Manipur  and  Jammu  &  Kashmir  for  training  of  law  enforcement personnel and Judiciary in these States.
- iv. Data  Security  Council  of  India  (DSCI),  NASSCOM  and  Cyber  Forensic  Labs  set  up  in  certain States,  have  taken  up  tasks  of  awareness  creation  and  training  programmes  on  Cyber  Crime investigation.  Academia like National Law School, Bangalore and NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad are also engaged in conducting several awareness and training programmes on Cyber Laws and Cyber crimes for judicial officers.
- v. NASSCOM  &  DSCI  have  been  working  under  the  aegis  of  National  Skill  Development Corporation,  Ministry  of  Skill  Development  and  Entrepreneurship,  on  developing  standardized content for the key job roles that have been identified based on the industry inputs, requirements and response.

(f):Presently  there  is  no  proposal  with  the  Government  to  amend  the  Information  Technology  Act, 2000.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 673

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## LOSSES DUE TO CYBER ATTACK

## 673 SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA: SHRI KAMAL NATH:

Will the Minister of Electronics & Information Technology be pleased to state:-

- (a)  whether the Union Government is aware that many Indian companies are losing several  crores every year due to cyber attacks;
- (b)    if  so,  whether  the  Union  Government  in  consultation  with  State  Governments  propose  to strengthen the cyber attack laws;
- (c)   if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  whether any separate wing has been created to check such cyber attacks and to prosecute the culprits involved; and
- (e)   if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

(a):  The  field  of  Information  Technology  (IT)  is  characterized  by  rapid  developments  and  fast changing obsolescence. With every IT product introduced into the market, newer vulnerabilities are discovered,  leaving  scope  for  malicious  actions.  In  tune  with  the  dynamic  nature  of  Information Technology, continuous efforts are required to be made to prevent and recover from cyber attacks. Malicious users continuously target India's IT infrastructure to infiltrate and hamper  the functionality  of  IT  systems.  As  such,  the  protection  of  India's  IT  infrastructure  in  general  and critical information infrastructure in particular is a dynamic activity and continuing process. As per the information reported to and tracked by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERTIn), a total no. of 44679, 49455, 50362 and  27482 cyber security incidents were observed during the year 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 (till June)  respectively. The types of cyber security incidents include  phishing,  scanning/probing,  website  intrusions  and  defacements,  virus/malicious  code, ransomware, Denial of Service attacks, etc. No separate data with regard to the losses incurred by the  Indian  companies  as  a  result  of  cyber  attacks  is  maintained  by  Indian  Computer  Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) or Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

- (b) and (c): The Information Technology Act, 2000, as amended from time to time,   provides legal framework to deal with the cyber security breaches.

(d) and (e): The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has been designated as the  nodal  agency  for  responding  to  cyber  security  incidents  in  the  country  as  per  provisions  of Section  70B  of  the  Information  Technology  Act,  2000  as  amended  from  time  to  time.  National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) has been created as per provision of Section 70A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 to act as the nodal agency for protection of critical  information infrastructure. Information Technology Act 2000 provides for punishment for various cyber crimes. CERT-In is  operating a round the clock incident response held desk, issuing alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats/vulnerabilities and countermeasures, conducting training  programs  on  specific  areas  of  cyber  security  and  conducting  mock  drills  to  enable assessment of cyber security posture and preparedness of organizations.

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 485

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## DIGIGAON PROJECT

## 485.    SHRIMATI  V. SATHYA BAMA:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)    whether  Government  has  envisaged  DigiGaon,  a  pilot  project  of  Digital  villages  to  be implemented in 1050 Gram Panchayats in the country;
- (b)  if so, the State-wise list of Gram Panchayats selected/to be selected under DigiGaon project and the amount allocated/sanctioned for each Gram Panchayat;
- (c)  whether the Government has any idea/plans to involve IT companies/NGO's to create more Digital villages in the country; and
- (d)  if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)

- (a): Yes, Madam. The Government has approved a Pilot Project called 'DigiGaon'.
- (b): The DigiGaon project has been approved to be implemented in 1050 Gram Panchayats (GPs) spread across 30 States/UTs. However, after assessment of the readiness of the States/UTs, and recommendations of the Empowered Group of DigiGaon, the project will be piloted in three States  out  of  the  following  five  states,  viz.  Bihar,  Chhattisgarh,  Gujarat,  Madhya  Pradesh  and Uttar  Pradesh.  The  'DigiGaon  project  envisages  providing  telemedicine,  tele-education,  LED lighting, Wi-Fi hotspots and skill development in the selected Gram Panchayats (GPs) and does not entail any GP wise budgeting allocation/sanction of funds.

- (c) and (d):    No, Madam.

********

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 528

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## PURPOSE OF AADHAAR DATA

## 528. SHRI M.K. RAGHAVAN:

Will the  Minister  of  ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)   whether the data collection under Aadhaar is only to ensure that welfare and pension scheme funds and public distribution system reach the poor or is it invasion of privacy;
- (b)   if so, whether such collection is infringing upon the citizens fundamental rights;
- (c)   if so, the areas where Aadhaar card has been made compulsory for an individual;
- (d)    whether  Aadhaar  is  now  primarily  required  for  income  tax  returns  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (e)    whether  the  creation  of  PAN  card  for  the  purpose  of  income  tax  has  failed  to  serve  the purpose and is necessitating Aadhaar linkage; and
- (f)    if  so,  the  areas  which  were  found  harmful  under  PAN  scheme  and  the  steps  taken  to overcome these loopholes in detail?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR  ELECTRONICS AND  INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

(a) and (b): The role of UIDAI, under the Ministry, is to issue Aadhaar numbers and provide authentication services for establishing identity of the beneficiaries. Accordingly, as per Section 3 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 ('Aadhaar Act, 2016'), every resident is entitled to obtain an Aadhaar number.

The  usage  of  Aadhaar  for  delivery  of  welfare  service  benefits  or  any  other  purpose  and  the extent to which Aadhaar is to be used is to be determined by the implementing agencies such as State Governments/Central Ministries and other agencies.

The usage of Aadhaar is governed by the Aadhaar  Act, 2016. Section 7 of the Act provides that the Central Government, or as the case may be, the State Government, may for the purpose of establishing identity of an individual  as a condition for receipt of a subsidy, benefit or service for  which  expenditure  is  incurred  from  the  Consolidated  Fund  of  India,  require  that  such individual undergo authentication, or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or in the case  of  an  individual  to  whom  no  Aadhaar  number  has  been  assigned,  such  individual  shall make an application for enrolment.  Section 7 further provides that, if an Aadhaar number is not assigned  to  an  individual,  the  individual  shall  be  offered  alternate  and  viable  means  of identification for delivery of the subsidy, benefit or service.

Further,  provisions  of  Section  57  of  the  Aadhaar  Act  inter  alia  permit  the  usage  of  Aadhaar number for establishing the identity of an individual for any purpose pursuant to any law or any contract to this effect with the requirement of being compliant of the provisions of Section 8 and Chapter VI of the Aadhaar Act. There is no infringement upon the citizens' fundamental rights.

The Aadhaar Act, 2016 is all encompassing legislation addressing issues of   data protection and confidentiality  of  the  UIDAI  database.  The  Aadhaar  (Data  Security)  Regulations  &  Aadhaar (Sharing of Information) Regulations, 2016 augment the measures for ensuring privacy and data protection.

(c):    As  on  13.07.2017,  123  schemes  of  various  Central  Ministries/  Departments  have  been notified under Section 7 or 57 of Aadhaar Act, 2016. In respect of these schemes,   Aadhaar number is necessary for the purpose of establishing identity of an individual to enable receipt of subsidies, benefits and services etc .

(d): Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961, introduced by the Finance Act, 2017, has a provision that every person who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number shall, on or after the 1 st day of July, 2017, quote Aadhaar number or Enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form in the return of income. Vide notification number 37/2017, bearing S.O.1513(E), it has been notified that the provisions of section 139AA of the IT Act, 1961 shall not apply to an individual who does not possess the Aadhaar number or the Enrolment ID and is:

(i) residing in the States of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya;

- (ii) a non-resident as per the Income Tax Act, 1961;
- (iii) of the age of eighty years or more at any time during the previous year; or,
- (iv) not a citizen of India.

(e)  and  (f):  PAN  is  the  key  identifier  of  taxable  entity  and  aggregator  of  all  financial transactions  undertaken  by  the  entity.  One  PAN  for  one  person  is  the  guiding  principle  for allotment  of  PAN.  However,  for  achieving  the  objective  of  one  PAN  to  one  assessee,  it  is required to maintain uniqueness of PAN.

The  uniqueness  of  PAN  is  achieved  by  conducting  a  de-duplication  check  on  all  already allotted PAN against the data furnished by new applicant. Under the existing system of PAN, only demographic data is captured. Some instances were found where multiple PANs have been allotted to one person or one PAN has been allotted to multiple persons despite the application of  de-duplication process based on demographic data. Linkage of Aadhaar number into PAN database will allow a robust way of de-duplication as Aadhaar number is based on biometric attributes of finger prints and iris images. Further, seeding of Aadhaar will allow weeding out any undetected duplicate PANs.

*******

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 574

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## LEAKAGE OF AADHAAR DATA

## 574. SHRI M.B. RAJESH:

Will  the  Minister  of  ELECTRONICS  AND  INFORMATION  TECHNOLOGY  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken note of leakage of Aadhaar data from various Government Departments;
- (b)  if  so,  the  number  of  instances  of  Aadhaar  data  leakages  noticed  from  various  Government departments and agencies;
- (c) whether private players have acquired Aadhaar data including biometric details of customers; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR  ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

(a) and (b): There has been no leakage of Aadhaar data from UIDAI. However, it was found that around 210 websites of Central Government, State Government Departments including educational institutes were displaying the list of beneficiaries along with their name, address, other details and Aadhaar  numbers  for  information  of  general  public.  UIDAI  has  taken  note  of  the  same  and  is regularly monitoring the status to get the Aadhaar data removed from the said websites.

(c) and (d): Private players have not acquired any Aadhaar Data including biometrics from UIDAI. The  sharing  of  Aadhaar  information  is  done  only  with  authorized  KYC  User  Agencies  (KUAs)/ Authentication  User  Agencies  (AUAs)  (both  can  be  Government  or  private  agencies),  through authorized  secure  applications  after  following  well  established  security  procedures  and  protocols. The sharing of Aadhaar information is regulated in terms of the Aadhaar (Sharing of Information) Regulations, 2016, framed under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.

*******

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  514

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## CELL PHONE QUALITY

## 514. SHRIMATI KOTHAPALLI GEETHA:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether the Government has any system in place to check the quality of cell phones quality to  avoid  call  drops  and  to  ensure  data  speed  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the reasons therefor;
- (b) whether many unlicensed companies and untested companies without valid certificates are manufacturing  thousands  and  lakhs  of  smart  phones  and  selling  in  the  market  throwing safety measures in the air  and if so, the details thereof and  reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  LTE  smart  phones  with  the  facility  of  having  2  sims  are  not  maintaining  data speed  properly  and  there  is  need  to  adopt  a  policy  decision  by  the  Government  in  this regard and if so , the details thereof and the steps being taken in this regard; and
- (d) whether the consumers are facing lot of difficulties after purchasing such smart phones in the market and if so, the details thereof and corrective steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)

(a):  As per details provided by Indian Cellular Association (ICA), call drop rate and the other network parameters like Network Downtime: Percentage non-availability of mobile network in a month,  percentage  of  calls  made  by  subscribers  and  successful  within  operator's  network, percentage  of  Calls  with  good  voice  quality  call,  etc.  are  monitored  by  Telecom  Regulatory Authority of  India  (TRAI) on a  regular basis.  These parameters help determine the quality of network and benchmarking the performance. At present, internet data speed or mobile broadband speed  offered  to  a  subscriber  is  not  measured  or  committed  by  the  network  operators  to  the subscriber.  TRAI  has  recently  flagged  a  consultation  process  on  'Data  Speed  Under  Wireless Broadband Plans' to help subscriber make an informed choice  and choose suitable data plans. Owing  to  the  various  factors  as  pointed  in  the  Consultation  paper  like  variable  number  of concurrent  users,  distance  of  a  user  from  the  Base  Transceiver  station/NodeB/  eNodeB,  peak time  event  or  the  type  of  application  (video,  text,  etc.)  being  accessed,  a  minimal  download speed  for  wireless/mobile  networks  is  difficult  to  be  committed  by  an  operator.  However, government  can  ensure  a  better  subscriber  experience  by  asking  the  operators  to  specify Minimum download speed in the network  i.e.  the  worst  performing  speed  as  well  as  average download speed to clarify the network quality before releasing a mobile internet plan similar to ' US Broadband label'  as suggested by TRAI in its consultation paper.

(b):  Keeping in view the safety of Indian consumers, mobile phones have been notified under the 'Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration)  Order,  2012'  for  mandatory  safety  testing  of  the  product  as  per  IS  13252  (Part 1):2010 at Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) recognized laboratories. The manufacturers have to get their product tested for safety compliance and seek registration from the BIS before selling in the market place. BIS has granted 948 registrations for mobile phones as on 13th July 2017.

(c) and (d): As per details provided by TRAI, 4G enabled dual SIM smart phones have issues relating to speed. In these phones only one slot is 4G enabled, which is either pre-defined by the manufacturer or which can be  selected by the  user  through  options  in  the  phone.    In  general, there will be degradation in speed in case of these phones for specific scenario when both SIMs are being used at same time as the resources are shared for two SIMs. The extent of degradation may be dependent upon radio  network  type  SIM  configured  by  the  customer  and  the  type  of services offered by the service provider such as 2G, 3G, 4G.  In case 4G SIM is put in 3G/2G slot  there  will  be  relatively  higher  degradation  and  it  may  be  reduced  by  putting  SIM  in appropriate slot.   There could also be higher degradation in case two 4G SIMs are used by the customer and one of the service provider is offering only 4G services.  As such, there is a need for educating the customers about the use of slots in the dual mobile handsets.  The extent of degradation may also be reduced by improvements in algorithms provided by chip manufacturers.    The  mobile  handset  manufacturers  are  required  to  take  appropriate  action  for improving  algorithm  used  in  this  regard.  TRAI  had  discussed  the  matter  with  the  service providers,  Industry  Associations,    Cellular  Operators  Association  of  India  &  Indian  Cellular Association and chipset manufacturers.  The Indian Cellular Association was advised to take up the  matter  with  the  manufacturers  so  as  to  upgrade  the  algorithm  in  the  handsets.    Also  the service providers were advised to educate the consumers about proper use of SIM slot in dual SIM Smart Phones.

## ***********

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 618

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## IT IN RURAL AREAS

## 618        SHRI RAYAPATI SAMBASIVA RAO:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: -

- (a)   the major efforts taken in the last three years to take information technology to the rural areas of the country;
- (b)     the details of funds that have been allocated to achieve this said target;
- (c)     the percentage of rural areas covered by IT services;
- (d)    the changes that have been brought about in the schemes under the Ministry in the last three years to take internet to the remote areas of the country; and
- (e)     the details of rural areas of the country which have been penetrated by internet so far ?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)

(a): Following are the major efforts made by Ministry of Electronics and  Information Technology (MeitY) in the last three years to take information technology to the rural areas of the country:

(i) Common Services Centres (CSCs): CSCs  are  internet  enabled  centres  operated  by  local entrepreneurs called Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) and provide eServices to rural citizens. CSCs deliver  various  Government-to-Citizen  (G2C)  services,  Business-to-Citizen  (B2C)  services,  financial inclusion services, Educational services, Skill development services etc. to citizens.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Govt. of India is establishing CSCs in about 2.5 lakhs of Gram Panchayats (GPs) across the country (with at least one CSC in each GP). For this, MeitY approved a project- 'CSC 2.0', in August, 2015 under Digital India Programme with an outlay of Rs. 475.11Crores which is to be implemented over a period of four years .  M/s CSC eGovernance Services India Limited (a CSC Special Purpose Vehicle was engaged as the implementing agency  for  the  project  with  active  support  and  participation  by  the  respective  State/Union  Territory (UT)  Nodal  Department(s),  State  Designated  Agencies  (SDAs),  and,  the  District  e-Governance Societies (DeGS).

Till June, 2017 , 3,00,774 Common Services Centres (CSCs) have been registered across the country, among which, 1,96,922 are at Gram Panchayat (GP) level. Out of the total registered CSCs, 2,61,071 CSCs are functioning and transacting for delivery of eServices, among which, 1,63,226 are at GP level.

| Target CSCs at Gram Panchayat (GP) level   | 2,50,000 (approx.)         | 2,50,000 (approx.)         |
|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|
|                                            | Registered                 | Functional                 |
| CSCs at Gram Panchayat (GP) level (A)      | 1,96,922 (at 1,32,514 GPs) | 1,63,226 (at 1,22,369 GPs) |
| CSCs other than GP, including Urban (B)    | 1,03,852                   | 97,845                     |
| Total CSCs including GP (A+B)              | 3,00,774                   | 2,61,071                   |

## (ii) National Information Infrastructure (NII):

A pilot on National Information Infrastructure (NII) for a period of one year  was initiated by MeitY in July, 2015 for one district each in the States of Nagaland, Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and UT of Chandigarh and Puducherry to integrate various ICT infrastructure namely State Data Centres (SDCs),  State  Wide  Area  Network  (SWAN),  National  Knowledge  Network  (NKN),  National Informatics Centre Network (NICNET), State Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG) including National Optical  Fibre  Network  (NOFN)/BharatNet  created  in  these  States.  The  objective  is  to  provide connectivity to government offices upto Gram Panchayat (GP) level (1059 GPs).

- (b): Details of the funds that have been allocated to achieve this said target are indicated below:

## CSC 2.0:

Approved outlay = Rs. 475.11 crores, Released till date = Rs. 145 crores

## National Information Infrastructure (NII):

Approved outlay = Rs. 45.84 crores, Released till date = Rs. 45.84 crores

- (c): Coverage of IT services in rural areas is detailed below:

## (i) Through Common Services Centres (CSCs):

Various types of citizen centric eServices can be delivered through national level integrated platform of CSC-Digital Seva once State/UT level service access portals are integrated with Digital Seva portal. Number of services in national CSC portal (Digital Seva) was increased from 32 to 170 during last 3 years.  Out  of  the  total  target  of  around  2.5  lakhs  of  Gram  Panchayats  (GPs)  to  be  covered  through CSCs  under  the  ongoing  CSC  2.0  project  within  4  years  (by  August,  2019)  for  delivery  of  citizen centric  eServices,  more  than  1.33  lakhs  GPs  (more  than  53%)  have  been  covered  with  around  1.97 lakhs of CSCs for delivery of eServices to citizens till June, 2017.

(d) and (e): Provisioning of internet connectivity at rural areas is under the purview of Department of Telecommunications (DoT), under Ministry of Communication.

DoT is implementing National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project, renamed as BharatNet. It is one of  the  pillars  of  Digital  India  Programme  to  establish  network  infrastructure  by connecting  all  Gram Panchayats (GPs) (approx. 2.5 lakhs) in the country through Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) and by using an optimal  mix  of  underground  fibre,  fibre  over  power  lines,  radio  and  satellite  media,  for  providing broadband  connectivity  by  all  categories  of  service  providers  on  non-discriminatory  basis. The BharatNet project is planned to be implemented in three phases. Under first phase of the project, 1 lakh Gram Panchayats (GPs) is  to  be  connected  by  laying  underground  OFC  by  November  2017.  Under second phase, connectivity will be provided to remaining 1.5 lakhs GPs in the country using an optimal mix of underground fibre, fibre  over  power  lines,  radio  and  satellite  media,  by  March,  2019.  Under third phase, a state-of-the-art network with ring architecture, is planned to be completed by 2023.

Under the said project (phase-I), 2,38,489 KMs of pipeline has been laid in 1,06,276 GPs, 2.20 lakhs KMs of optical fibre pulled for 1,00,152 GPs and 23,147 GPs have been connected so far till 09-072017.   The detailed status of BharatNet project is given in Annexure-II .

Apart from that, the CSC Special Purpose Vehicle (CSC -SPV) launched an initiative calledWi-Fi Choupal for 5,000 Gram Panchayat (GP) , a rural Wi-Fi service initiative in financial year 2016-17 at the behest of Telecom Commission, Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India at an estimated cost of Rs. 100 cr. Wi-Fi Choupal project has been launched to provide Wi-Fi Internet access in rural India through CSCs. As on date, Wi-Fi Infrastructure has been deployed in 2500 GPs across 9 States (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Karnataka) and 2 Union Territories (Chandigarh and Puducherry). The activation of the internet service has been done at 650 GP locations.

********

## ANNEXURE - I

| STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   | STATE/UT-WISE CSC ROLL OUT STATUS AS ON 30 JUNE, 2017   |
|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.                                                  | State                                                   | No. of Gram Panchayat (GP)                              | No. of CSCs Registered including GP                     | No. of CSCs Registered at GP level                      | No. of GPs covered with Registered CSC                  | Total No. of Functional CSCs including GP               | Total No. of Functional CSCs at GP level                |
|                                                         |                                                         | 1                                                       | 2                                                       | 3                                                       | 3.1                                                     | 4                                                       | 5                                                       |
| 1                                                       | Andhra Pradesh                                          | 12833                                                   | 5488                                                    | 3475                                                    | 3475                                                    | 5212                                                    | 3119                                                    |
| 2                                                       | Arunachal Pradesh                                       | 1779                                                    | 115                                                     | 54                                                      | 54                                                      | 54                                                      | 44                                                      |
| 3                                                       | Assam                                                   | 2196                                                    | 2735                                                    | 2246                                                    | 2196                                                    | 2213                                                    | 1559                                                    |
| 4                                                       | Bihar                                                   | 8463                                                    | 22380                                                   | 17541                                                   | 8463                                                    | 19090                                                   | 11960                                                   |
| 5                                                       | Chhattisgarh                                            | 9734                                                    | 11929                                                   | 8410                                                    | 8410                                                    | 11175                                                   | 7940                                                    |
| 6                                                       | Goa                                                     | 189                                                     | 54                                                      | 37                                                      | 37                                                      | 32                                                      | 30                                                      |
| 7                                                       | Gujarat                                                 | 13735                                                   | 18062                                                   | 14845                                                   | 13735                                                   | 16805                                                   | 13885                                                   |
| 8                                                       | Haryana                                                 | 6155                                                    | 8724                                                    | 5834                                                    | 5834                                                    | 7900                                                    | 4923                                                    |
| 9                                                       | Himachal Pradesh                                        | 3243                                                    | 2624                                                    | 2269                                                    | 2269                                                    | 2552                                                    | 1952                                                    |
| 10                                                      | Jammu &Kashmir                                          | 4128                                                    | 2123                                                    | 1039                                                    | 1039                                                    | 1727                                                    | 900                                                     |
| 11                                                      | Jharkhand                                               | 4423                                                    | 9799                                                    | 7445                                                    | 4423                                                    | 9014                                                    | 5295                                                    |
| 12                                                      | Karnataka                                               | 5628                                                    | 6564                                                    | 2665                                                    | 2665                                                    | 4963                                                    | 2333                                                    |
| 13                                                      | Kerala                                                  | 979                                                     | 2676                                                    | 1969                                                    | 979                                                     | 2119                                                    | 1111                                                    |
| 14                                                      | Madhya Pradesh                                          | 23012                                                   | 19446                                                   | 13175                                                   | 13175                                                   | 16194                                                   | 11873                                                   |
| 15                                                      | Maharashtra                                             | 27920                                                   | 31066                                                   | 19464                                                   | 19464                                                   | 25324                                                   | 17788                                                   |
| 16                                                      | Manipur                                                 | 165                                                     | 646                                                     | 256                                                     | 165                                                     | 554                                                     | 207                                                     |
| 17                                                      | Meghalaya                                               | 1463                                                    | 262                                                     | 193                                                     | 193                                                     | 198                                                     | 74                                                      |
| 18                                                      | Mizoram                                                 | 776                                                     | 376                                                     | 316                                                     | 316                                                     | 316                                                     | 176                                                     |
| 19                                                      | Nagaland                                                | 1123                                                    | 232                                                     | 230                                                     | 230                                                     | 220                                                     | 138                                                     |
| 20                                                      | Odisha                                                  | 6234                                                    | 8651                                                    | 6832                                                    | 6234                                                    | 6545                                                    | 5599                                                    |
| 21                                                      | Punjab                                                  | 12800                                                   | 6261                                                    | 4282                                                    | 4282                                                    | 5229                                                    | 3464                                                    |
| 22                                                      | Rajasthan                                               | 9946                                                    | 30436                                                   | 15038                                                   | 9946                                                    | 29814                                                   | 14878                                                   |
| 23                                                      | Sikkim                                                  | 165                                                     | 37                                                      | 31                                                      | 31                                                      | 31                                                      | 23                                                      |
| 24                                                      | Tamil Nadu                                              | 12618                                                   | 11069                                                   | 5773                                                    | 5773                                                    | 7408                                                    | 4646                                                    |
| 25                                                      | Telangana                                               | 8787                                                    | 5564                                                    | 3180                                                    | 3180                                                    | 5043                                                    | 2855                                                    |
| 26                                                      | Tripura                                                 | 1038                                                    | 521                                                     | 442                                                     | 442                                                     | 366                                                     | 322                                                     |
| 27                                                      | Uttar Pradesh                                           | 51914                                                   | 67054                                                   | 41675                                                   | 7555                                                    | 58876                                                   | 35804                                                   |
| 28                                                      | Uttarakhand                                             | 7555                                                    | 5594                                                    | 4441                                                    | 4441                                                    | 4339                                                    | 3853                                                    |
| 29                                                      | West Bengal                                             | 3351                                                    | 17527                                                   | 13584                                                   | 3351                                                    | 15653                                                   | 6330                                                    |
|                                                         | State Total                                             | 242352                                                  | 298015                                                  | 196741                                                  | 132357                                                  | 258966                                                  | 163081                                                  |
| Union Territory                                         | Union Territory                                         | Union Territory                                         | Union Territory                                         | Union Territory                                         | Union Territory                                         | Union Territory                                         | Union Territory                                         |
| 1                                                       | Andaman &Nicobar                                        | 69                                                      | 49                                                      | 26                                                      | 26                                                      | 42                                                      | 20                                                      |
| 2                                                       | Chandigarh                                              | 17                                                      | 112                                                     | 29                                                      | 17                                                      | 65                                                      | 21                                                      |
| 3                                                       | Dadra &Nagar Haveli                                     | 11                                                      | 31                                                      | 16                                                      | 11                                                      | 21                                                      | 9                                                       |
| 4                                                       | Daman and Diu                                           | 14                                                      | 11                                                      | 2                                                       | 2                                                       | 8                                                       | 1                                                       |
| 5                                                       | Delhi                                                   | 0                                                       | 2361                                                    | 0                                                       | 0                                                       | 1854                                                    | 0                                                       |
| 6                                                       | Lakshadweep                                             | 10                                                      | 3                                                       | 3                                                       | 3                                                       | 2                                                       | 2                                                       |
| 7                                                       | Puducherry                                              | 98                                                      | 192                                                     | 105                                                     | 98                                                      | 113                                                     | 92                                                      |
|                                                         | UT Total                                                | 219                                                     | 2759                                                    | 181                                                     | 157                                                     | 2105                                                    | 145                                                     |
| GRAND                                                   | TOTAL                                                   | 242571                                                  | 300774                                                  | 196922                                                  | 132514                                                  | 261071                                                  | 163226                                                  |

| STATUS OF BHARATNET AS ON 09.07.2017   | STATUS OF BHARATNET AS ON 09.07.2017               | STATUS OF BHARATNET AS ON 09.07.2017   |
|----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| S.N.                                   | Description of Work                                | Status                                 |
| 1.                                     | OFC Pipe laid                                      | 2,38,489 Kms (1,06,276 GPs)            |
| 2.                                     | Optical Fibre laid                                 | 2,20,139 Kms (100,152 GPs)             |
| 3.                                     | Tenders Finalized                                  | 3324 Blocks / 1,24,412 GPs             |
| 4.                                     | Work Started*                                      | 3223 Blocks / 1,20,570 GPs             |
| 5.                                     | Current Weekly performance of Optical Fibre laying | 662Kms                                 |
| 6.                                     | Current Weekly performance of OFC Pipe laying      | 889 Kms                                |
| 7.                                     | Optical Fibre Cable Delivered on site              | 2,55,499 Kms                           |
| 8.                                     | GPON Integrated &Tested (Lit)                      | 23,147 GPs                             |

## State-wise status of NOFN (BharatNet) as on 09.07.2017

| S.N o.   | States/ UTs         | No. of Gram Panchayats (GPs)- Phase I   | Pipe laid (kms.)   | Cable laid (in kms)   | No. of GPs where Pipe laid   | No. of GPs where Cable laid   | GPs connected   |
|----------|---------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------|-----------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------|
| 1        | Assam               | 1533                                    | 3799               | 4158                  | 1420                         | 1348                          | 354             |
| 2        | Bihar               | 5754                                    | 12199              | 12940                 | 4967                         | 4742                          | 711             |
| 3        | Chhattisgarh        | 4104                                    | 10213              | 7873                  | 3304                         | 3159                          | 1289            |
| 4.       | Haryana             | 6020                                    | 9776               | 10993                 | 5907                         | 5801                          | 894             |
| 5.       | Jammu &Kashmir      | 388                                     | 427                | 388                   | 214                          | 200                           | 0               |
| 6.       | Karnataka           | 6092                                    | 11784              | 12193                 | 6026                         | 6010                          | 4826            |
| 7.       | Kerala              | 977                                     | 720                | 830                   | 1129                         | 1129                          | 1129            |
| 8.       | Madhya Pradesh      | 12655                                   | 35904              | 31113                 | 12026                        | 11643                         | 3599            |
| 9.       | Maharashtra         | 15301                                   | 26696              | 25129                 | 12664                        | 11843                         | 1992            |
| 10.      | Punjab              | 8049                                    | 9810               | 9153                  | 6989                         | 6745                          | 637             |
| 11.      | Rajasthan           | 8194                                    | 21069              | 20268                 | 7114                         | 7046                          | 1725            |
| 12.      | Uttar Pradesh       | 27974                                   | 48556              | 44678                 | 25363                        | 23409                         | 2785            |
| 13.      | Uttarakhand         | 1863                                    | 2792               | 2636                  | 1503                         | 1463                          | 431             |
| 14.      | West Bengal         | 2637                                    | 5175               | 4876                  | 1822                         | 1791                          | 231             |
| 15.      | Andaman &Nicobar    | 69                                      | 0                  | 0                     | 0                            | 0                             | 0               |
| 16.      | Chandigarh          | 12                                      | 18                 | 19                    | 12                           | 12                            | 12              |
| 17.      | Arunachal Pradesh   | 863                                     | 1558               | 656                   | 609                          | 220                           | 0               |
| 18.      | Nagaland            | 994                                     | 2614               | 1475                  | 831                          | 462                           | 0               |
| 19.      | Manipur             | 904                                     | 333                | 232                   | 154                          | 122                           | 26              |
| 20.      | Mizoram             | 763                                     | 735                | 438                   | 125                          | 73                            | 0               |
| 21.      | Tripura             | 1021                                    | 1688               | 1584                  | 834                          | 810                           | 79              |
| 22.      | Meghalaya           | 1208                                    | 1212               | 525                   | 433                          | 191                           | 0               |
| 23.      | Gujarat             | 6905                                    | 10518              | 9542                  | 5046                         | 4478                          | 1018            |
| 24.      | Puducherry          | 98                                      | 82                 | 92                    | 98                           | 98                            | 101             |
| 25.      | Andhra Pradesh      | 1673                                    | 2627               | 766                   | 520                          | 283                           | 0               |
| 26.      | Telangana           | 2017                                    | 4538               | 4462                  | 2038                         | 2038                          | 206             |
| 27.      | Odisha              | 3860                                    | 8121               | 7970                  | 3109                         | 3108                          | 517             |
| 28.      | Jharkhand           | 2713                                    | 5012               | 4669                  | 1864                         | 1775                          | 529             |
| 29.      | Himachal Pradesh    | 252                                     | 513                | 481                   | 155                          | 153                           | 56              |
| 30.      | Daman &Diu          | 15                                      | 0                  | 0                     | 0                            | 0                             | 0               |
| 31.      | Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 20                                      | 0                  | 0                     | 0                            | 0                             | 0               |
| 32.      | Sikkim              | 52                                      | 0                  | 0                     | 0                            | 0                             | 0               |
| 33.      | Lakshadweep         | 10                                      | 0                  | 0                     | 0                            | 0                             | 0               |
| 34.      | Tamil Nadu          | 0                                       | 0                  | 0                     | 0                            | 0                             | 0               |
| 35.      | Goa*                | -                                       | -                  | -                     | -                            | -                             | -               |
|          | Grand Total         | 124127                                  | 238489             | 220139                | 106276                       | 100152                        | 23147           |

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 652

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## CASHLESS ECONOMY

## 652 .       SHRI ANANTKUMAR HEGDE:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: -

- (a) whether the expansion of digital economy has taken place after the promotion of cashless economy in the country;
- (b)        if so, the assessment of the said expansion till date in year 2017 in comparison with the last year;
- (c) whether it is a fact that a commission is charged on cash transactions under the digital economy; and
- (d)       if so, the percentage collected now on various mediums of transaction?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

- (a) and (b): The total number of digital payment transactions over the period October, 2016 to May,  2017  is  at  Annexure  I.  The  data  indicates  that  there  has  been  an  increase  in  digital payments transactions during the said period.
- (c)  and  (d):  As  per  Reserve  Bank  of  India  (RBI)  circular  No.  RBI/2014-15/72  dated  1 st July 2014,  scheduled  commercial  banks  have  freedom  to  levy  charges  for  various  services.  An illustrative  list  of  charges  levied  by  some  of  the  public  sector  banks  on  handling  of  cash  is  at Annexure-II.

********

|   # | Month      |   Total Digital Payment Transactions (In Crores) |
|-----|------------|--------------------------------------------------|
|   1 | Oct 2016   |                                            71.27 |
|   2 | Nov 2016   |                                            83.48 |
|   3 | Dec 2016   |                                           123.46 |
|   4 | Jan 2017   |                                           114.96 |
|   5 | Feb 2017   |                                           101.18 |
|   6 | Mar 2017   |                                           119.07 |
|   7 | April 2017 |                                           118.01 |
|   8 | May 2017   |                                           111.45 |

Source: RBI and NPCI

Annexure I

| Bank                      | Charges on deposit and handling of cash in Savings Bank Accounts at bank branch (as on 7.7.2017)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|---------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Allahabad Bank            | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| Andhra Bank               | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| Bank of Baroda            | Home branch: No charges Non-home branch: For cash deposit of up to Rs. 30,000 per day per account, there is no charge. Thereafter, charge Rs.2.50 per thousand or part thereof, for amount in excess of Rs. 30,000                                                                                                                      |
| Bank of India             | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| Bank of Maharashtra       | / No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Canara Bank               | Free up to Rs. 50,000. Thereafter, a charge of Re. 1 per Rs. 1000, subject to a minimum of Rs. 50 and a maximum of Rs. 2,500/- per transaction                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| Central Bank of Indla     | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| Corporation Bank          | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| Dena Bank                 | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| IDBI Bank                 | In metro/urban locations, no charge up to 5 transactions per month. In semi- urban locations, no charge up to 7 transactions per month. In rural locations, no charge up to 10 transactlons. Thereafter, a charge of Rs. 2.50 per Rs.1000 subject to a minimum of Rs. 25 and a maximum of Rs. 10,000 per month. Home branch: No charges |
| Indian Bank               | Non-home branch: No charge for cash deposit of up to Rs. 50000 per day per account. Thereafter, charge of Re. 1 per thousand or part thereof subject to a minimum of Rs. 25 for amount in excess of Rs.50,000.                                                                                                                          |
| Indian Overseas Bank      | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| Oriental Bank of Commerce | No cash deposit charges. No charge for cash handling on depositing up to Rs. 1 lakh per day, and above Rs 1 lakh per day, a charge of 10 paisa per piece (currency note).                                                                                                                                                               |
| Punjab &Sind Bank         | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| Punjab National Bank      | No charges at.the home branch                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| Punjab National Bank      | For cash deposit at all branches within the same clearing centre and city (other than at the home branch) there are no charges up to Rs. 25,000 per day. Above Rs. 25000, charge of Re. 1 per Rs. 1000 or part thereof, with a minimum of Rs. 25 per transaction.                                                                       |
| Punjab National Bank      | For Cash Deposit at outstation non-home branches (other than in the same clearing centre/city), there are no charges up to Rs. 25,000 per day. Above Rs. 25,000, charge of Rs. 2 per Rs. 1000 or part thereof with a minimum of Rs. 25 per transaction                                                                                  |
| State Bank of India       | Upto 3 transactions, no charges in branch, Rs. 50 per deposit thereafter. No charges on transactions using Cash Deposit Machine (CDM).                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| Syndicate Bank            | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| UCO Bank                  | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| Unlon Bank of India       | No charges at the home branch. Above Rs. 50,000 per day at non-home branch, a charge of Re. 1/- per thousand, subject to a minimum of Rs. 10 and a maximum Rs. 11,500                                                                                                                                                                   |
| United Bank of India      | | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| Vijaya Bank               | No charges                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |

********

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  604

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.07.2017

## WEBPAGE FOR GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL REGARDING GST

## 604. SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL: SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV: SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)     whether the Government is aware that there are various issues which are being faced by the companies to file grievance redressal with regard to GST implementation;
- (b)       if so, the details thereof;
- (c)       whether the Ministry has decided to launch a dedicated webpage for facilitating taxpayers with regard to addressing issues related to information technology services and electronic goods to ensure preparedness for GST implementation;
- (d)      if so, the details thereof and the salient features therefor; and
- (e)      the  manner  and  extent  to  which  it  will  be  helpful  for  the  general  people  and  the companies/organisations in the implementation of GST?

## ANSWER

MINISTER of STATE for ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI P. P. CHAUDHARY)

- (a) and (b): No, Sir(s). There are no issues with regard to filing of grievance related to GST. The government is constantly monitoring the situation and is taking requisite action to address any issues that the trade might be facing in the implementation of GST. For this purpose, the government has created a dedicated website https://cbec-gst.gov.in/feedback.html to effectively handle any such issues.
- (c) to (e): Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) have created GST webpage ( www.meity.gov.in/GST) on its' website to provide sector specific information and link to CBEC website on GST. The GST webpage of MeitY consists of four modules: (1) GST Grievance for ICT & E providing a form for filing GST Grievance/query for ICT & Electronics sector, (2) GST Rate for IT Services (Software), (3) GST Rate Schedule for Electronics sector, which provides information on the GST rate on software and electronics products, and, (4) GST Facilitation Cell which  provides  details  of  the  chairperson  and  the  sector  specific  members  of  the  GST Facilitation Cell of MeitY. Queries/grievances received on MeitY website are acknowledged and further taken up by specific Groups/Organizations of MeitY for appropriate response.

*********

## Deputy Director(Parl.)

## Concerned GCs

- Copy to:   1.   Minister's Office
2.   MOS's Office
3.   Secretary's Office, MeitY
4.   Senior Economic Adviser (Parl.), MeitY
5.  OSD to MOS

## Final   list of the Questions

## Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Parliament Section)

The  following questions have been admitted   for answer in Lok Sabha on 19.07.2017 (Wednesday).

|   Sl. No. | D.No.   |   Admit No. | Subject                                       | File No.        | Concd. GCs / HODs     | Remarks   |
|-----------|---------|-------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------|-----------------------|-----------|
|         1 | 1016    |         469 | Cyber Security                                | 2(222)/17-Parl. | GC(AK)                |           |
|         2 | 1089    |         485 | Digigaon Project                              | 2(221)/17-Parl. | JS(RB)                |           |
|         3 | 1171    |         504 | CERT-In                                       | 2(226)/17-Parl. | GC(AK)                |           |
|         4 | 1223    |         514 | Cell Phone Quality                            | 2(228)/17-Parl. | JS(SKR)               |           |
|         5 | 1261    |         518 | Cyber security for GSTs                       | 2(225)/17-Parl. | GC(AK)                |           |
|         6 | 1313    |         528 | Purpose of Aadhaar data                       | 2(211)/17-Parl. | JS(RB)                |           |
|         7 | 1430    |         574 | Leakage of Aadhaar Data                       | 2(214)/17-Parl. | JS(RB) / CEO, Aadhaar |           |
|         8 | 1734    |         588 | Cyber Attack                                  | 2(210)/17-Parl. | GC(AK)                |           |
|         9 | -       |         604 | Webpage for Grievance Redressal Regarding GST | 2(235)/17-Parl. | JS(RB)                |           |
|        10 | 1993    |         612 | Semi-conductor manufacturing unit             | 2(216)/17-Parl. | GC(DD)                |           |
|        11 | -       |         618 | IT in Rural Areas                             | 2(236)/17-Parl. | JS(SM)                |           |
|        12 | 2454    |         652 | Cashless Economy                              | 2(220)/17-Parl. | JS(RB)                |           |
|        13 | 1548    |         656 | Job Losses in IT Sector                       | 2(219)/17-Parl. | JS(RK)                |           |
|        14 | -       |         673 | Losses due to Cyber Attack                    | 2(234)/17-Parl. | GC(AK)                |           |

## There is No Starred Question in Lok Sabha on 19.07.2017.

2.      Draft  Reply  must be typed in double space. File  containing  the  answer  to    Questions  please  be submitted latest by 13.07.2017 for onward submission to Hon'ble Minister, MeitY / Hon'ble MOS, MeitY.
3.    Use of abbreviations may be avoided and in case they are used, their full form may also be given in the brackets.  It has been observed that illegible photo copies of annexure are  appended some time.  It is, therefore,  requested  that  either  original  copy  or  neat,  clean  or  legible  copy  of  the  annexures/enclosures may  be  attached. Further,  it  is  also  requested  that  a  soft  copy  of  the  Note  for  Supplementaries prepared  for  Starred  Questions  may  please  be  forwarded  to  the  PS  to  Hon'ble  Ministers  at: mljoffice@gov.in and PS to Hon'ble MOS at: mos-mlj@meity.gov.in and ravi.raghav@meity.gov.in .
4.    If reply to any question contains long annexure/tables, etc. such information may please be provided to Parliament Section through USB  for  facilitating their accurate and speedy  translation in Hindi. Alternatively it may be e-mailed.

(Vinodpriya) Section Officer(Parl.)