Cyber security has become the need of the hour in view of the advancement in technology and its related benefits and the increasing incidents of cyber crime across the country. Due to lack of awareness, the rate of cyber crimes in India is galloping day by day. The Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown have led to a sudden spurt in online activities which in turn automatically increased cyber crime incidents.

In order to make people aware of cyber crimes and their prevention, Bilaspur Police, under the guidance of IG Dipanshu Kabra, launched a massive 8-day campaign ‘Cyber Mitaan’ with the participation of 10,000 volunteers reaching door-to-door to spread the word of cyber security in the district. The volunteers and cops were provided with strict training to enlighten the people and prevent them from falling prey to activities like phishing, cyber stalking and various identity thefts. These volunteers are called ‘cyber rakshaks’ and have the responsibility to reach out to 706 villages, towns and wards and nearly 20 lakh people.

The campaign is designed according to all target groups, including youth, senior citizens, children, men, women etc. Special workshops and meetings will be arranged specifically with each target group, so that no one is left out. They have also made short movies to explain the people in an interactive manner. The campaign includes all sorts of awareness activities, from online sessions to door-to-door campaigning and public gatherings making personal interactions. Also the police have ensured that while during the ground activities, all norms of social distancing are strictly followed.

“The Cyber Rakshaks will brief people on what preventive measures should be taken in order to stay protected from cyber attacks. They would also advise them to spread the message to all their near and dear ones. We want to educate them about frauds like ATM fraud, UPI fraud and any other digital fraud. We try to create awareness about how they should share private information with others. We are roping in movie stars, locals to reach out to the maximum number of people. This is not the end. We will continue doing this in the future as well.” says IPS Dipanshu Kabra.

In order to ensure its effectiveness, all police station in-charges have been designated as ‘Cyber Mitaan’ with the responsibility of running the campaign smoothly and successfully in their respective regions. Twenty nodal officers, who are Sub-Inspectors, Assistant Sub-Inspectors and Head Constables, have been deployed under them. The best thing to note is that, on the very first day of the campaign, the volunteers were able to reach out to 40,000 people at 290 locations in the district.