New Delhi: Members of Parliament on Friday expressed concerns about cybersecurity in the recently constructed Parliament building and urged banks to implement sufficient measures to safeguard the financial assets of the general public. The legislators also emphasized the importance of enhancing cybersecurity awareness nationwide and advocated for the creation of a “cyber consciousness index” to assess it.
During a meeting of the Committee on Information and Communication Technology Management in the Rajya Sabha, held in the Parliament House Annexe Building, committee members received presentations from senior officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the public sector Punjab National Bank.
Chaired by AAP member N D Gupta, the committee convened to discuss cybersecurity matters. During the session, the secretary of MeitY delivered a presentation to the members, detailing the issues related to cybersecurity and outlining the approaches adopted by the ministry and its affiliated organizations to address these concerns.
Measures were detailed in the presentation to reinforce the cybersecurity of Member Services and guarantee the security of the new Parliament building. Throughout the session, panel members actively expressed their concerns and raised queries to the officials.
The Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and representatives from Punjab National Bank were present to share their perspectives on the regulatory framework. They also discussed the steps taken to implement mechanisms for cybersecurity, digital identity/digital payment systems, and the ongoing efforts to enhance these aspects.
According to sources, panel members instructed senior officials of the bank to guarantee the security of the financial assets of the general public and posed numerous inquiries on the matter.
Officials listed the measures taken by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to safeguard the security of Members of Parliament at the new Parliament building. They responded to the concerns raised by members on this matter.